CHENNAI: After media reports that salaries of Village Health Nurses (VHN) would be cut if they didn’t register pregnant women for the Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme, over 250 nurses staged a protest at the Directorate of Medical Services campus, demanding for the withdrawal of the decision, on Monday.
The Health department had made it mandatory to register all pregnant women in Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) application, where Village Health Nurses register all details of the pregnant women. However, it was alleged that there is delay in many beneficiaries getting money under the said scheme.
“In some cases, there is delay in mothers getting the money, because the app is not user-friendly. VHNs are struggling to enter the data as multiple details have to be fed into the app. We have requested the health department officials to rectify it and they promised to do so,” said C Parameshwari, president, Tamil Nadu Village Health Nurses Association.
”Our basic work is to provide basic health care services to people in the village. But we have almost become like data entry operators. We are not getting time for other things as there are hassles in the app. Many times we don’t get network also to enter the details,” said another nurse.
The nurses also urged the DPH to issue transfer orders to those who were transferred, but yet to get transfer order. They also requested the health department to recruit more nurses. The protestors dispersed after three hours after the Director of Public Health, Dr K Kolandaswamy promised that the department would look into their demands. “He told us that our salary won’t be cut and they hadn’t made any such announcement,” said Parameshwari.