Ayush doctors demand regularisation of their jobs

BHUBANESWAR:

Ayush doctors

in the state working under the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (

RBSK

) scheme on Saturday threatened the state government to go on mass leave if their jobs are not regularised. They have given January 15 ultimatum.
While addressing a press conference here, the doctors, under the aegis of the State RBSK

Ayush Doctors’ Association

,

Odisha

, said that they have only one demand – the regularization of their jobs.

Presently, around 1100 Ayush doctors are working in the state against the sanctioned 1272 posts.
Rabindra Sethi

, general secretary of the association, said the state government has already regularised contractual employees of other schemes. “I do not know why the state government is not paying heed to our demand,” he added.
Most of the RBSK Ayush doctors have been recruited in 2013. Some Ayush doctors were taken from the national health mission (NHM) to the RBSK. “Though RBSK is a central scheme, the state government has appointed us. We request the government to consider our demand and regularise our job,” said Sethi.

He said they have been providing service in the critical sector and helped the government to improve infant mortality rate (IMR). “Several meetings and discussions have been done on our issue, but nothing has materialised yet. We cannot tolerate more delay in our matter,” he added.
Association president Prabhat Mohanty said they are working in an important sector like health with a meagre salary. “The Odisha government abolished the contractual recruitment system on October 15 last year and regularised the jobs of thousands of contractual staff. But we could not get that benefit till today,” he added.

If the government does not solve their issue by January 15, they will take mass leave despite the state government has invoked the Odisha Essential Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA) from December 6 to prohibit strikes in the form of cessation and obstruction of work or unauthorised absence from work by nurses, paramedics, technicians and other class-III and class-IV employees connected with the maintenance of medical services in the government hospitals and dispensaries in the state.
NHM Odisha mission director Brundha D could not be reached for a comment on the issue.