Contractual health workers rally for job regularisation

Ranchi: Contractual health workers of the state, who have been on a fast-unto-death protest here since January 24 to demand job regularisation, on Tuesday took out a torch-light procession to strengthen their agitation against the government.
The demonstrators marched from the dharna site outside Raj Bhavan to Kutchery Chowk and vowed to continue their agitation until their demands are fulfilled.
Earlier in the day, the agitators announced that they would ‘gherao’ the official residence of health minister Banna Gupta located at Doranda on Wednesday to press for their demands. They would also hold similar gheraos of homes of the lawmakers of the ruling coalition of JMM, Congress and RJD in the coming days.
Gupta’s office announced that he would meet the demonstrators at their dharna site. However, Gupta backed out later and sent his representative.
The demonstrators refused to meet the representative. “The minister promised to meet us first on February 7 and then backed out. Today, he promised to come, but cited ill health and sent his representative instead. Why would we talk to him? We will only speak to the minister,” Veena Singh, the general secretary of Jharkhand Rajya NRHM ANM and GNM Sangh, told TOI.
The protestors have been demanding a reopening of hiring of the ANMs, the laboratory technicians, the pharmacists, and the medical attendants by the state health department. They alleged that the appointments were made for the last time in 2014. The government had then filled up 1,347 posts on a one-time-basis.
However, the health department claimed that the recruitment done in 2014 was by the department of personnel, administrative reforms and Rajbhasha of which chief minister Hemant Soren is the minister.
Meanwhile, seven out of the 21 protesters are presently hospitalised. “Over the past fortnight, several MLAs and ministers have spoken to us, but they did not take up the matter with the government,” Vinay Kumar Singh, the president of the Jharkhand Contractual Paramedical Workers’ Union, said.