Rahul Chakradhari is a pharmacist and a permanent employee at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Rasela, a village in Chhattisgarh’s Gariaband district close to the Odisha border. However, the current circumstances have forced him to go beyond the scope of his duties. He isn’t just dispensing medicines; he is also prescribing them in some cases.
Chakradhari says he is forced to do so because of a staff crunch caused by a State-wide strike of over 14,000 contractual National Health Mission (NHM) workers. One in every three healthcare workers — from doctors and nurses to pathologists and auxiliary nurse midwives — is not reporting for duty. The strike over 10 demands, key among them being permanent employment, better pay and good working conditions, has entered its 24th day, impacting healthcare facilities at every level, from district hospitals to Arogya Mandirs (health and wellness centres).
