Protests bring traffic to halt on Patiala roads

PATIALA: Road blockades by the National Health Mission (NHM), contractual, and midday meal scheme workers on protest created a citywide traffic chaos on Sunday.

The NHM workers of the health department are demanding regular jobs and equal pay for equal work. During their protest march from Veer Haqiaqat Rai Park to the local bus stand, they burnt an effigy of Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh. Auxiliary nursing midwives (ANMs), staff nurses, laboratory attendants, and technicians, who were part of the agitation, said even meeting the governor had not resolved their issues.

NHM employee union state president Amarjit Singh said: “Our counterparts in Haryana have regular jobs. Punjab’s NHM employees get meager salaries despite working for an equal number of hours and doing the same work as regular employees.” The contractual workers such as members of the midday meal scheme staff protested in Amritsar and Bathinda, besides Patiala, for minimum wages and regular jobs.

Planning to gherao the CM’s residence, the Patiala protesters marched up to there from Nehru Park but police did not allow them to cross the barricades at Fountain Chowk near the spot. After long hours of protest, the agitators received an offer from the district officials for a meeting with the education minister on January 29 but they said they had no faith in him. They were okay with meeting the new cabinet sub-committee led by health minister Brahm Mohindra.

Under the banner of daily wages and contractual employees’ front they demanded the implementation of the Contractual Employees Welfare Act of 2016 “in letter and spirit”. Parveen Sharma, one of front’s leaders, said: “All contractual workers of the midday meal, Asha (accredited social health activists), and forest department programmed get less than minimum wages and incentives. We held a protest in three zones of Punjab.”

Employees from the education department, National Rural Health Mission, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan, Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, Education Gurantee Scheme, Aids Control Society, and Atma (Agricultural Technology Management Agency) scheme, besides outsourced workers, joined the protest for regular jobs. They said outsourcing of employees was an unfair police, as the government should recruit them directly.

Stuck in the logjam, local resident Gurpreet Singh said: “The traffic chaos during rallies has become a nuisance for the general public. The protests are increasing in Patiala. We are not against speaking up, but the commuters should not be inconvenienced. The administration should provide the agitating people with a particular site for protest.”