Odisha government hospital nurses start 2-day agitiation over 10-point demands

Odisha health minister Mukesh Mahaling said the Odisha Nursing Employees’ Association has been called for a meeting on Wednesday

Published on: Sep 25, 2024, 15:10:17 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: Nurses of state-run hospitals and healthcare centres in Odisha on Wednesday launched a two-day agitation to demand implementation of their 10-point list of demands including regularisation of contractual workers and scrapping of outsourcing.

The nurses had gone on a token strike in August to draw the government’s attention to their 10-point charter of demands (FILE PHOTO/Representative Image)

The nurses, agitating under the banner of Odisha Nursing Employees’ Association (ONEA), have also threatened to completely stay off hospital duties from September 27 if their demands are not met. Suchismita Dash, the ONEA president, said currently nurses at state-run hospitals except those posted at emergency services, intensive care units and operation theatres are participating in Wednesday’s agitation.

The nurses are demanding that the duration of their contractual service should be treated as a period of qualifying service for consideration of promotion, a modified assured career progression (MACP) and notional increments.

“Though the BJD (Biju Janata Dal) government abolished the contractual system, several nursing employees are not getting due financial benefits and many senior nurses are still getting salaries on par with juniors or even less. We demand promotion of eligible nursing officers to the post of senior nursing officers and assistant nursing superintendent by way of relaxation of residency period, recruitment against the post of community health officers under the National Health Mission, reverting the deployed regular nursing officers to their parent cadre and regularisation of left out contractual nursing officers,” said Dash.

The state government has asked heads of all healthcare facilities to take action against the nursing staff under the Odisha Emergency Services (Maintenance) Act, 1988 if they go for cease work.

Odisha’s nursing director Dr Artabandhu Nayak has asked directors of Bhubaneswar’s Capital Hospital, Cuttack’s Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer (AHPGIC) and Rourkela Government Hospital, superintendents of medical colleges and hospitals and all CDMOs to act against nurses under ESMA.

Health minister Mukesh Mahaling said the nursing association has been called for a meeting on Wednesday.

“We have invited them to discuss their issues. The discussion will be successful and health services will not be affected,” he told reporters.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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