Even after working for more than 10 years, the NHM employees do not get paid enough to make a decent life.
The National Health Mission (NHM) In-source Employee Association, which is part of the state Health and Family Welfare department, is hopeful that the state government will accept their demand of being permanent employees in the next cabinet meeting.
Shauraj S, General Secretary of NHM In-source Employee Association said, “We are hopeful that the state government will regularise our employees during the cabinet meeting on 24th March” Currently, employees are contractual, and are demanding to be permanent employees.
Sayeeda, a Nursing Officer from the Belagavi district who has been on the strike since February 13 said, “We are fighting for equal respect and other benefits that the permanent workers get. I have been working for 15 years and I still get treated badly sometimes.”
She added that since her joining over a decade ago, her salary has seen only little increment,“When I joined in 2008, my salary was Rs 7000; and now after so many years, it is only 13,000. Daily labourers get paid more than we do and they can choose what work they want to do but we cannot.” Most daily labourers get paid around Rs. 18,000 a month, and are also free to choose the type of work they want to do. However, for NHM nurses, they must do the work assigned to them.
Moreover, in-source employees like her also must follow orders from permanent employees which they cannot refuse. “I have not seen anyone get fired for not following orders from permanent employees, but I have heard from several people that this does happen often. So, we feel it’s really important we also are made permanent employees to avoid such behavior from co-workers,” she concluded.
The Karnataka Health department did not want to comment on this ongoing protest.
In-source employees are hired by government officials based on their merits through interviews, unlike outsourced employees, who are hired directly through private organizations. Krishna, a lab technician from the Vijayanagar district said, “We get hired based on our merit after a long process, and work like any other permanent employee, but we get paid less. He lamented that with the slow rate of salary increment, lack of benefits and job safety, he worries about his children’s future.
After months of strike, the state government has increased the salary hike of in-source NHM employees to 15 percent from five percent. Despite this, the employees are concerned more about being permanent.
Pushpa, another Nursing Officer from the Belagavi district said that the benefits that come with being a permanent employee are important, without which hard work goes unrewarded “I celebrated Ugadi without my family, we do our duty selflessly but get nothing in return. During the first wave of COVID-19, I was pregnant but I still did not get any casual leave.”
She said that regularising in-source employees will allow them to take more casual leave and the employees will be able to priorities their own health.
Dr. Girija, who works at Kengeri Community Health Centre (CHC) said, “None of our NHM employees have been present since February. When the number of patients increase, it gets difficult to manage.”
Shauraj S said that they are aware of the impact of their strike. “We are aware of the fact that common people are suffering because a large portion of the health workers are NHM employees. We are trying our best to provide service while continuing our protest.”
Abhishek Singh, an activist who is been working with the labour community for decades, said, “The reason for their protest is justified, they deserve better. If the government stop paying tax payer money on advertisement and spend it on the labour force it will be beneficial for everyone.”
