NRHM employees resume work

Staff Reporter DIMAPUR, SEPTEMBER 1 Medical workers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in Nagaland have called off their strike today and would resume work at their respective placements from September 2 onwards. The turnaround, after eleven days since the boycott of work was announced, has been made possible after the department of Health and Family Welfare agreed to release the salary of the NRHM workers, left pending since April this year. Following this “arrangement”, representatives of the NRHM employees association have requested all members to resume work and exercise their “duty sincerely” from September 2 onwards.Healthcare system in Nagaland – a challenging prospective even under normal circumstances – was rendered even more paralytic, especially in the rural areas which constitute more than two-thirds of the state’s population with the health workers on agitation. Aware of the impact that their strike would have on healthcare the NRHM employees expressed their regret at the onset of the agitation to the public over the “inconvenience created.”when they announced their boycott call on August 21 last. A highly reliable source from the department of Health and Family Welfare, on Monday, sympathetic towards the agitating NRHM employees says dire financial state of the Nagaland government has compelled Delhi to follow a fund policy of 90:10, as Center: State share. The dry months in which the NRHM employees were deprived of their salaries were a result of the State government’s failure to contribute its allotted share of 10%, according to the official source. Against such a scenario, the department official felt that it would be unfair to make a scapegoat of the NRHM employees. On Monday the representatives of the NRHM employees thanked the “department concerned for solving the issue as requested.” On their part the NRHM workers (who are by essence contractual employees) have been at pains to underscore that theirs is not a fight against the department. “We are only requesting them to release our salary.” The representatives of NRHM employees association also thanked the “public organizations” for their support to the cause.