The Tamil Nadu Health Department Employees Association has appealed to the State government to safeguard the livelihood of multi-purpose health workers (MPHW) who were employed at Amma Mini Clinics in Coimbatore district amid rumours of the clinics being shutdown.
Association State vice-president M. Mohandas said on Tuesday that they recently petitioned State Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan regarding this issue. Around 27 MPHWs were employed at Amma Mini Clinics in the district and most of them were from the Scheduled Castes, he said.
The MPHWs who were recruited in February had worked under difficult circumstances through the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the State government must not terminate their services Mr. Mohandas said. “They could be brought under the fold of other healthcare schemes such as Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam,” he suggested.
Sources in the Health Department said that the MPHWs were given a month-long extension as their services were initially planned to be terminated in December. However, no official announcement has been made regarding any further extension, the sources said.
