Health services, particularly Covid testing, that were intermittently disrupted in some districts over the last few days, would be streamlined from Saturday, the state health minister said on Friday after around 12,000 contractual paramedics and nurses decided to postpone their planned strike to demand full-time jobs and better pay.
Several rounds of meetings were held on Friday with representatives of the paramedics and nurses during which the government was able to convince them to call off the indefinite strike plan after promising to look into their demands later.
“We had extensive talks with the agitators and have assured them that all their issues will be sorted out once the coronavirus period is over,” health minister Banna Gupta said. “In the evening, chief minister Hemant Soren took stock of the situation. Ours is a sensitive government and paramedical staff are our family too. They have decided not to go on strike on humanitarian grounds,” he added.
Gupta said in some districts where the strike was on, the local authorities tried to rope in an alternative workforce to ensure that Covid testing did not suffer.
Around 12,000 contractual paramedical staff, pharmacists and nurses, under the joint banner of Jharkhand State Contractual Paramedical Staff Association and Jharkhand State NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) and GNM (general nursing and midwifery) Sangh, have been on the warpath against successive governments’ sustained indifference towards their decade-long demand for regular jobs and better pay.
On Tuesday, all the outfits held a day-long strike across district headquarters and medical college and hospitals as a prelude to an indefinite strike from Saturday. However, in several districts, various units representing paramedical and nursing staff and lab technicians haven’t been reporting for work since then.
District administrations were in a tizzy and tried their best to organise additional workers in the face of a steady increase in the number of Covid cases. In places like Dhanbad, Bokaro and parts of Ranchi, the strike had impacted Covid testing, in addition to disrupting general health services.
Manju Minz (33) of Lalpur, who is eight months pregnant, had to return from sadar hospital without undergoing her scheduled check-up. “Covid testing has been made mandatory for all those turning up at the hospital before any treatment. However, when I went to sadar hospital for a check-up, I was told there was no one because of the strike,” she said.
Juhi Minz, president of Jharkhand State NRHM ANM and GNM Sangh said they had put off the strike in public interest. “We were forced to strike (on Tuesday) to ensure the government woke up from its slumber.There is no one to take care of us. Many of our colleagues died due to Covid but got no help,” she said.
On their key demands, general secretary of Jharkhand State Contractual Paramedical Staff Association Raghav Kumar said they were fighting for job regularisation and pay. “We are working at state health centres for over a decade but still on contract without any incentives. Even in case of on-duty casualty, we don’t have insurance,” he said, adding that they were now hopeful that the government would help. “We have been given a positive and time-bound assurance,” he said.
There are 23 district hospitals, 113 sub-divisional hospitals, 330 primary health centres, 188 community health centres and 3,958 sub health centres in the state. Of the 12,000-strong paramedical staff, over 6,000 are auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), 2,000 general nursing midwifery (GNMs), 1,000 pharmacists, 1,500 lab technicians and 500 X-ray technicians. All work on contract.