Health employees wear black badges, seek fulfilment of long-pending demands in Sirsa

Sirsa, June 24

Following a decision at a state officials’ meeting of the National Health Mission (NHM) Employees Association, Haryana, the staff has started wearing black ribbons and bands to protest and launch their upcoming movement for their long-pending demands. NHM workers in Sirsa district, including Kalanwali, Ellenabad, Dabwali, and Sirsa protested by wearing black ribbons.

Threaten protest if demands not met

• NHM employees will submit a memorandum to the Haryana Chief Minister through all Civil Surgeons on July 2. From July 8 to 12, they will submit memoranda through all MPs and MLAs, both from the ruling party and the Opposition.
• NHM employees association’s state president Vipin Sharma said if the government still does not meet their demands, they will be forced to start an immediate protest after a meeting on July 14.

NHM Employees Association’s state president Vipin Sharma stated that for the last five years, the government and department had ignored the demands of the NHM employees working in Haryana.

He said the association has communicated their problems to the government through letters and meetings. He claimed that in 2016, officials drafted a plan twice to regularise the NHM employees, which the government ignored. In 2021, the Chief Minister approved implementing the 7th pay commission recommendations for the NHM employees in recognition of their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the department and officials have continually blocked the implementation of these decisions with unnecessary objections.

Sharma said, whenever the government and officials are approached about their demands, they are told that NHM employees have not been regularised anywhere. The employees want to remind the government that the Indian government has repeatedly directed state governments to integrate NHM employees into the Health Department, he added. He added that NHM employees were regularised in Manipur as per a letter from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, in 2022. All related documents have been submitted to the Chief Minister, Health Minister, and departmental officials, but compliance is still pending in Haryana.

Sharma said, in support of their demands, the NHM employees will submit a memorandum to the Haryana CM through all Civil Surgeons on July 2. From July 8 to 12, they will submit memoranda through all MPs and MLAs, both from the ruling party and the Opposition. He added that if the government still does not meet their demands, they will be forced to start an immediate protest after a meeting on July 14. The responsibility for any consequences will lie entirely with the government and the Health Department.