Health workers protest, threaten to gherao Punjab CM's house over demands

Tribune News Service

Patiala, December 24

Health workers, under the banner of the Joint Action Committee of the Health Department, held a protest today outside the office of the Civil Surgeon for their long-pending demands. The health workers staged a sit-in outside the office for hours and raised slogans against the state government.

The protesters were demanding regularisation of contractual employees working in the Health Department and the National Health Mission, Punjab, equal pay for equal work, rollback of the decision of stopping various allowances and to cut short the probation period from three to two years.

The protesting employees threatened that they would hold a massive protest rally on December 28 outside the state headquarters of the Health Department in Chandigarh and gherao the residence of the Chief Minister. The agitating employees warned the government of fulfilling their demands by December 27 or get ready for more intense protest. Randhir Kaur, protesting health worker, said, “Instead of awarding the health workers for their extraordinary work during Covid, the government has discontinued various allowances of ours. This is a shameful act. “

The protesting employees said they would go on indefinite strike if their demands were not met. Meanwhile, Karnail Singh, co-convener, joint action committee of the health department, said, “We will campaign against the Congress in the upcoming Assembly election, if the Congress-led government fails to fulfil our unmet demands.”

Later they handing over a memorandum of their demands to Patiala Civil Surgeon Prince Sodhi.