NHM employees continue protest, demand implementation of SC guidelines

Srinagar, Jan 30:  Amid the fresh snowfall, the employees of National Health Mission (NHM) on Wednesday continued their protest to demand for the implementation of Supreme Court guidelines, which ensure equal pay for equal wages and regularization of their services.

The protest today entered in the 17th day and the employees are reluctant to call it off till their demands are not met.

The protesting employees said that the administration seems to be least concerned about the welfare of the employees of health sector.

“Be it the 7th pay commission or the maternity leaves for our female colleagues, we are deprived of everything,” said a protestor.

“We protested in December 2017 for 34 days, after which the then Health Minister Bali Bhagat assured the regularization of first 1100 employees and the rest were to be absorbed in a phased manner. But nothing of that sort was done,” recollected the protestors.

Another NHM employee, posted in Baramulla, was complaining about the working of the committee that was formed for the regularization of employees which also became defunct.

He said, “The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was also signed for regularization of our services, but for unknown reasons the work has been left unfinished.”

Explaining the government’s side, Atul Duloo, Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education Department, said, “They (protesting employees) are coming to meet us. We’ll discuss the issue with them.”

When asked about the steps to be taken to address the issues of NHM employees, he replied, “We cannot say anything yet.”

Fulfill genuine demands of NHM employees: DAK

Srinagar, Jan 30: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) in a communiqué said that it is high time that all genuine demands of Doctors of the state must be fulfilled and Government must abide by its order 340-HME Dated 01.06.2018 in which high-level committee was framed to address the demands.

Dr Suhail Naik, President DAK in a statement said that the committee had to submit its report in one month time but eight months have already elapsed and committee failed to submit its report. The doctors across the state have time and again protested peacefully without any strike as we don’t want our people to suffer for lack of health care services in strikes but authorities must not take this as our weakness.

Dr Owais H Dar, General Secretary DAK said that due to continuous strike by National Health Mission (NHM) staff, duties of regular staff have been stretched beyond human capabilities and capacities as a lot of doctors and paramedics are put on continuous duties for many days and nights together for which we a continuously receiving distraught calls from such Doctors who are over exhausted by such type of inhuman working hours.

DAK appeals the Hon’ble Governor of J&K state, Satya Pal Malik and Hon’ble Advisor, K Vijay Kumar to take a personal interest in mitigating the long pending demands of doctors of the state or we would be forced to go on an indefinite strike.