Contractual NHM employees burn copies of appreciation letters

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 3

Over a month into their agitation against non-regularisation, members of the National Health Mission on Friday returned and burnt copies of their appreciation letters received from the state government as a mark of protest. Returning their appreciation letters to the DC office, they also burnt letters during a protest held outside the civil surgeon’s office here today.

The agitation was part of the statewide agitation of the NHM against the state government. Agitating employees said, “For the past 12 years, nearly 12,500 NHM workers have been working on meagre salaries with the Health Department on contractual basis. During the Covid pandemic, workers without caring for their lives worked for the welfare of patients and needy. But despite this our demand of regularisation remains unfulfilled.”

Workers said as per the Act made to regularise 36,000 contractual workers, none of the National Health Mission employees had been included even though the neigbouring Haryana government was paying full salaries to its NHM workers from 2018 onwards.

While NHM workers and employees in various district returned their commendation and appreciation letter to the state government in protest against their regularisation, in Jalandhar workers heaped up their appreciation letters outside the Civil Surgeon’s office and set fire to them.

Workers said they be either regularised or be paid increased salaries on the lines of Haryana.