NHM contract staff meet OP Soni, seek more pay

Jalandhar, October 25

A delegation of the contractual employees, working under the National Health Mission (NHM), today met Deputy CM and Health and Family Welfare Minister OP Soni. Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, state president, NHM Employees Union Punjab and union member Yogesh Sachdeva told the minister that the contractual and outsourced employees, working under the NHM, Punjab, for the past 15 to 16 years had been receiving meagre salaries.

They said as many as 11,000 such clerical, medical and paramedical employees were working in the department for the past 15 to 16 years.

They also said every time, assurances of regularising them were meted out by the governments but the promise was never kept and none of the employees making the demands has been regularised as yet.

They said with meagre salaries and rising inflation, making ends meet had become an uphill task for them. They said they were working not just on week days but also on holidays. They sought regularisation on a priority basis for the state’s contractual NHM employees from the health minister and sought regular pay scales for these employees.

They also said during Covid pandemic, they had worked day and night to ensure facilities and reach of health services to the common public. The minister assured them of solving their issues soon. Dr Sumit Kapahi, Dr Rohit Kalra and Dr Sandeep were also present on the occasion. — TNS