BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government has prohibited strikes by nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, technicians and other class-III and class-IV employees in the health sector to ensure that medical services across the state are not disrupted by invoking the Odisha Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA). The order will be in force for the next six months.
ESMA has been invoked ahead of the rath yatra on June 20 and at a time when Covid-19 cases are on the rise in the state.
A notification issued by the Home (Special Section) Department said that the Act will be applicable to employees including contractual employees in services and engagements connected with maintenance of medical services in government hospitals and dispensaries in the state like the district headquarters hospitals, sub-divisional, area, municipality and ESI hospitals, community and primary health centres.
Besides, staff working in the medical colleges and hospitals run by the government and other autonomous health institutions receiving grant-in-aid from the state government, specifically Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer, Cuttack, and Regional Spinal Injury Centre, including jail and police hospitals will also be covered under the provisions of the Act.
The notification said that as per Section 2 (b) of the Act, 'strike' means cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any essential service acting in combination or a concerted refusal or refusal under a common understanding. It also refers to employees remaining on unauthorised absence from duty with a common understanding.
Strikes have been prohibited in exercise of the power conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 read with section 2 of the Odisha Essential Services (Maintenance) Act 1988 (Odisha Act 9 of 1992), the notification added.