National Health Mission (NHM) employees join three-day sit-in strike in Kokrajhar

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: The nurses and staff working under the National Health Mission (NHM) across Assam have begun a three-day strike starting on Monday in support of their five-point demands. These demands include implementing pay scale benefits, providing equal pay and equal rights as per the Supreme Court’s order, and other related issues.

Due to protest, health services in government hospitals across the state, including Kokrajhar have been severely affected. However, emergency medical services are being continued in the hospitals affected by the strike.

Meanwhile, the All Assam Health and Technical Welfare Association, the NHM Employees’ Association, and the National Health Mission Workers’ Union have jointly launched the three-day sit-in-strike in Kokrajhar. The protest was organized in the premises of the Joint Director of Health Services in Kokrajhar, where NHM workers shouted slogans demanding justice, to ensure equal pay for equal work, to implement pay scale system for NHM staff and to adopt EPF/CPF facilities, to appoint NHM staff directly to vacant posts in the Health department.

Later, Kajol Nandi, President of the NHM Workers’ Association, Kokrajhar district, said that the employees had already staged a protest at Chachal on October 29, strongly urging the government to fulfil their five-point charter of demands. However, the government paid no attention to their grievances, he alleged.

He demanded that the Assam Government should immediately grant equal pay for equal work to around 20,000 NHM employees working across the state and regularize their jobs—as has been done in states like Delhi, Haryana, Odisha, Manipur, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Maharashtra, failing of which he warned that the agitation would be intensified further, and the government would be responsible for any situation arising during the protest.

Also Read: Equal Pay, Equal Rights: Assam NHM Workers Begin Statewide Strike