RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Jan.18: Medical services at the government health institutions in rural areas throughout Jharkhand remained disrupted today as over 10,000 contractual paramedics and nurses continued their strike for the second day to press for their long-standing demand for job regularisation.
The state has 23 district hospitals, 113 sub divisional hospitals, 330 primary health centres, 188 community health centres (CHC), and 3,958 sub health centres. According to sources, health care services at PHCs and CHCs were severely impacted.
A RIMS official supported the development saying load on RIMS has increased as patients from primary health centres rushed to RIMS. “The load is expected to increase every day. While on average 1000 patients reach RIMS, today the number was around 1400. Primary health centres depend on contract staff and with them one cannot think about running it,” the official said.
Striking paramedics and nurses, united under the banner of the Jharkhand State Contractual Paramedical Staff Association and the Jharkhand State NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) and GNM (general nursing and midwifery) Sangh, have threatened to escalate their agitation if the state government does not take their decade-long demand for regular jobs into account.
“We have been providing contract services to all state-owned health clinics for nearly 15 years and do not receive the advantages that permanent employees do. Due to the contractual nature of our position, we are at the vanguard of dealing with probable Covid-19 patients during the pandemic, with no insurance coverage or compensation package in the event of death from the disease. For more over a decade, successive governments have simply offered us rhetorical assurances, but nothing has been done to regularise our jobs. If the administration does not accept our requests, we will be obliged to escalate the agitation into an indefinite strike,” said state president of Jharkhand State NRHM ANM and GNM Sangh.
There are over 6,000 ANMs, 2,000 GNMs, 1,000 pharmacists, 1,500 lab technicians and 500 X-ray technicians across the state who have been rendering services on a contractual basis.
“The UPA government even promised to regularise our jobs in their election manifesto last year. But it hasn’t happened yet. We require job and compensation stability. If nearby Odisha can regularise contracted NHM employees, why can’t Jharkhand??” Minz questioned.
Sources in the state health department said a directive has been issued to all the civil surgeons across 24 districts to carry out work at important health centers through outsourced staff.
Contacted health secretary Arun Kumar Singh for his comment he shared the hurdle before the service regularization of contract workers.
“Regular Post Honi Chahiye (there should be regular post),” he replied when asked what will be an additional burden on the state of services of striking para medical staff and what is the legal hurdle when the Supreme Court has already asked the state to consider regularization.
