RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Jan.30: Jharkhand’s health service is heading towards derailment while authorities are maintaining silence over the situation.
Negligent attitude of the state health department towards the demands of service regularisation of the health workers reflects so. The health workers extending their services on contract basis are on strike but authorities are taking no step to ensure that they return to their work.
A senior doctor of Sadar Hospital in Ranchi said if attention is not paid common people will suffer.
“Those who were on strike included 12,000 contractual paramedics, 42,000 Sahiya and 2000 community health officers (CHO). Their duration of strike is respectively 14, 7 and 1 days. These health workers are considered the backbone of the health system as they extend their services at those places where doctors avoid visiting regularly. They immunise children, feed lactating mothers, take care of pregnant women and play an important role in implementation of health schemes,” the senior doctor said, expressing his concern over the situation.
The Secretary of state Anubandhit Para Chikitsakarmi Sangh, Naveen Gupta, echoed the same feeling. “Five of us agitating for our demand have been admitted at Sadar Hospital after their health deteriorated due to hunger strike but none of the government officials turned up for a talk. We want service regularisation as most of us have worked for more than 10 years but there is no one to take care,” he said.
“Those admitted include Naveen Ranjan (Hazaribagh), Veena Kumari (Ranchi), Nandini Kumari (Jamtara) Anita Kumar (Jamtara) and Shivrani Kumari (Deoghar). We have not expected the government to behave like this,” Gupta said.
A MPW supported the situation saying on February 2 they have also proceeding on strike.“We are around 1600 in number and we are multipurpose workers (MPWs) expected to do anything according to the need of hour,” the MPW said
Contacted health secretary Arun Kumar Singh for his comment he did not respond. The officers below him expressed their inability to give any comment in the matter.
