Initial salaries for doctors in this group range around Rs 28,000, while tuberculosis workers receive Rs 17,000.
Nearly 35,000 contract workers in Maharashtra, including doctors and nurses, employed under the National Health Mission (NHM), have called for an indefinite strike. They are set to stage a protest at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan on October 30-31, demanding permanent posts.
While this strike may disrupt services such as immunisation, dialysis, and outpatient care, emergency services will remain unaffected. The contract employees comprise 650 doctors from AYUSH and 2,500 doctors from the National Child Health Scheme, 2,573 tuberculosis department staff, 2,000 laboratory technicians, nearly 4,000 semi-nurses, 8,500 community medical officers, and other healthcare workers.
Representatives of 11 organisations held a meeting with Health Commissioner Dheeraj Kumar, demanding that NHM contract workers in the health department receive job security similar to that provided by the governments of Odisha, Manipur, Rajasthan, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh.
Initial salaries for doctors in this group range around Rs 28,000, while tuberculosis workers receive Rs 17,000. Doctors in the National Child Health Department start at Rs 17,000, with those having over a decade of service earn Rs 37,000.
Auxiliary nurses get around Rs 20,000 after years of service, but lack additional benefits enjoyed by permanent service employees. A union leader said, “Despite 17,000 vacant posts in the health department, the department has refused to absorb contract workers with over a decade of experience…”
Source : The Indian Express