‘Pay of healthcare workers should be on par with daily wage fixed by T.N. government’

Healthcare workers employed under various State and Union government schemes demanded to make their payment on par with the daily wage fixed by the Tamil Nadu government.  

While workers under Union government schemes like National Health Mission, National Rural Health Mission, Facility Based Newborn Care among others were paid ₹6,000 to ₹8,000, the same grade workers employed under the State government schemes like Chief Minister Health Insurance Scheme were paid ₹18,000. 

The disparity between the same grade workers employed under different schemes would not be encouraging for them in a workplace, said, M. Venkatachalam, Founder, Tamil Nadu Government Medical Department All Workers and Sanitary Workers Association. 

“Following a Government Order passed in 2012, healthcare workers are employed on a contract basis or through private agencies. While this has disrupted the healthcare system, the rights of workers were also completely removed from them,” he added.  

The contract workers like male nursing assistants, female nursing assistants, hospital workers, sanitary workers in all government hospitals who were employed after 2012, irrespective of their experience, were still paid only ₹6,000, Mr. Venkatachalam noted.  

The minimal salary of the health workers is not even touching the minimum wage fixed by the government. “When the minimum wage fixed is ₹700 per day, health workers pay is just ₹200 to ₹300 per day. Even workers under unorganised sectors are paid a decent salary, but those who work for more than 12 hours a day (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) are poorly paid,” he stated.  

As health workers, they who toil in all sensitive places in hospitals could be vulnerable to all sorts of infections and diseases, but the government does not have any provision to treat them through any insurance or schemes, he said.  

“When they are not recognised as an employee, how would the government treat them as a labour or staff under the public sector,” Mr. Venkatachalam asked.  

Demanding to make them permanent workers and increase their pay along with other employment benefits, he said that only then would the prevailing issues within the health sector be solved.  

At a time when there was a plenty of vacancies in the public health sector, the overloaded workers should be ensured a decent pay to match their service, he added.

Published - November 19, 2024 07:50 pm IST