Services in government health centres across Jharkhand were badly affected on Tuesday amid the coronavirus pandemic as nearly 12,000 contractual paramedical staff and nurses went on a daylong strike to press for their long-standing demand for job regularisation.

The striking paramedics and nurses, under the joint banner of Jharkhand State Contractual Paramedical Staff Association and Jharkhand State NRHM (National Rural Health Mission) ANM (auxiliary nurse midwife) and GNM (general nursing and midwifery) Sangh, threatened to intensify their agitation into an indefinite strike if the state government does not consider their decade-long demand for regular jobs.

“We have been rendering services at all state-owned health centres for close to 15 years on contract basis and are bereft of benefits given to permanent employees. During the pandemic, we are at the forefront in dealing with suspected Covid-19 patients but do not have any insurance cover or compensation package in case of death from the disease due to the contractual nature of our job. For more than 10 years, successive governments have only given us verbal assurance but nothing has been done to regularise our jobs. We resorted to a symbolic strike today (Tuesday). If the government does not consider our demands, we will be forced to intensify the agitation into an indefinite strike,” said Raghav Kumar, general secretary of the Jharkhand State Contractual Paramedical Staff Association.

There are over 6,000 ANMs, 2,000 GNMs, 1,000 pharmacists, 1,500 lab technicians and 500 X-ray technicians across the state who have been rendering services on a contractual basis.

“We had informed the National Health Mission director, health secretary, the state health minister and chief minister about our symbolic strike. The UPA government had even announced in their election manifesto last year about regularisation of our jobs. But it has not been done so far. We need job and compensation security especially during the Covid-19 pandemic as we are serving at risk to our life and family. If neighbouring Odisha can regularise contractual NHM staff, why can’t Jharkhand do the same?” questioned Juhi Minz, state president of Jharkhand State NRHM ANM and GNM Sangh.

Sources in the state health department said a directive has been issued to all the civil surgeons across 24 districts to carry out work at important health centres through outsourced staff.

“Work was definitely affected due to the strike but in (Jamshedpur) Sadar Hospital, subdivisional hospital and community health centres we managed to operate the emergency ward through outsourced staff,” said East Singhbhum civil surgeon Dr Rajendra Jha.

There are 23 district hospitals, 113 subdivisional hospitals, 330 primary health centres, 188 community health centres and 3,958 sub health centres in the state.

State NHM mission director Ravishankar Shukla said they have been informed that the symbolic strike was only for a day. “We were told that it would be a daylong symbolic strike. Talks are on with the representative (of the paramedical and nursing staff) to find out an amicable solution,” said Shukla.