The National Health Mission (NHM)’s contractual staff, including doctors, nurses and healthcare workers in Maharashtra, who are on a ‘stop-work’ agitation, on Monday held demonstrations outside the Pune district collectorate. NHM contractual workers in Maharashtra are on an indefinite strike since October 25. Harshal Ranaware, one of the coordinators of the NHM contract workers’ action committee, said they want permanent appointment in their existing posts. Across Maharashtra, there are more than 35,000 contract workers and, in Pune, around 2,750 contract workers in rural areas and 1,400 from Pune city and Pimpri Chinchwad areas are participating in the agitation. On Monday, a protest march was taken out from Pune zilla parishad’s office to the district collectorate. Doctors, nurses and health care workers displayed stethoscopes, thermometers, PPE kits and other medical equipment on the roadside as part of their demonstrations. According to the agitating workers, while other employees under NHM were given a salary raise from Rs 18,000 to Rs 20,000 in 2018, there was no hike for the contract workers who had completed 10 years. While the state government had agreed to consider the demand for contract workers who had completed 10 years of service, Ranavare said they also want ame payscale and work for workers with less than 10 years of service.
