E-Paper
Protesting rural health pharmacy officers scuffle with cops in Sangrur
The rural health pharmacy officers and class-IV employees on Wednesday scuffled with police outside rented accommodation of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday.
The rural health pharmacy officers and class-IV employees on Wednesday scuffled with police outside rented accommodation of Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday.
The protesting employees are demanding a salary hike and regularisation of their services.
They have also decided not to join their duties at Aam Aadmi Clinics which the government has planned to inaugurate in the state on January 27. The protesting pharmacy officers and class-IV employees have already said that they will not join Aam Aadmi Clinics till their demands are met. Earlier they had threatened to boycott their duties but on Wednesday they have taken final call on it after the scuffle with cops during their protest. Earlier in the day, they gathered near Verka Milk plant and started walking towards CM residence but their march was foiled by the police. A second attempt of the protestors to march towards the CM’s residence led to their clash with cops.
Sandeep Pal, vice president of the rural health pharmacy officers’ association, said that the state government is going to inaugurate 500 Aam Aadmi Clinics in Punjab and 200 contractual rural pharmacy officers and 300 class-IV employees are deployed at these clinics.
He said that they have been working on contract basis in the rural dispensaries for the past 16 years at meager salaries. The rural pharmacy officers are receiving only ₹ 11,000 and class-IV employees are getting paid ₹ 6,000 per month. There are a total 1007 contractual rural pharmacy officers in the state against 1185 sanction posts and the contractual class-IV employees in the rural dispensaries are 1013. “We will not join duties till our demands are accepted. The government has given us a meeting at CM house on February 15.”
