Outsourced Paramedics Stage Dharna For Job Regularisation In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The oursourced paramedical employees in government hospitals have staged a protest in Bhubaneswar demanding regularisation of their jobs.

Hundreds of paramedical employees under the aegis of the Odisha Government Outsourcing Paramedical Employees Association started a dharna at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar to draw the attention of the Odisha government on Monday.

The agitating paramedics told the media that the state government had appointed them by oursourcing from different agencies to meet the desperate needs in healthcare services during the COVID pandemic. Instead of rewarding them for their contributions, the government has terminated their services in some districts including Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur and Balasore.

On their demands, they said their major demand was regularisation of their jobs considering the crying need in the health services in the state.

“Our primary demand is that all suspended auxiliary nursing midwife (ANMs), general nursing midwifes (GNMs) and Pharmacists must be reinstated in their jobs. Besides, we should be shifted from the payroll of the agencies to be included in NSM so that our jobs would be regularised,” they said.

Another agitating paramedic said the Supreme Court recently issued a statement that contractual employees are at par with the regular employees and the government should consider regularisation of their jobs. The apex court had earlier also mentioned about equal salary for equal jobs.

“Besides, the new BJP government soon after assuming power had stated that there were around 2.6 lakh government jobs vacant in the state. Now what is the problem for the government to regularise our jobs,” he asked.