Over 14,000 contractual staffers of the National Health Mission (NHM) in Chhattisgarh have submitted their resignations en masse after the Health Department on Wednesday terminated the services of 25 employees leading their agitation seeking the implementation of a 10-point charter of demands.
The stir, which entered its 19th day on Friday, is posing a two-pronged challenge to the BJP government, with health services severely impacted across the State and the Congress cornering it over its handling of the issue.
The NHM employees have been agitating since August 18, demanding regularisation of services, better pay, and other perks. The protest has affected essential health facilities, such as nutrition rehabilitation centres, and the health check-ups of children in government schools and anganwadis.
According to government officials, the NHM executive committee had accepted four of the 10 demands in its meeting on August 13. However, the employees’ union claims that the government has not taken concrete steps to implement them.
‘No room for dialogue’
