SEHORE : Contractual employees of health department took out a funeral procession as a mark of protest on Saturday. Male employees got their heads tonsured. Women employees too joined the procession and raised slogans. Contractual employees of health department are on an indefinite strike demanding equal work, equal pay and withdrawal of suspension. The strike has taken a toll on health services of the state. The employees are demanding written orders and not assurances to end their strike.
The procession began from Bal Vihar Maidan, passed through Lisa Square, main market, Kotwali and Lal Masjid before concluding at Sivan Square.
The protest drew attention of people. They were shocked by funeral procession, where bands played and foreheads of people were smeared with ‘Gulal’. The protesters were raising slogans against contractual policy. The health employees on strike maintained that they wanted to bring the matter to the notice of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. They demanded dumping of contractual policy as it was anti-employees. They demanded that all employees must be regularised.