NHM employees end strike after meeting Chhattisgarh CM

RAIPUR: In a late evening development on Friday, National Health Mission (NHM) contractual employees called off their month-long indefinite strike after a meeting with Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai at his official residence. The employees had been on strike since August 18 over their 10-point charter of demands.A delegation of NHM officials, led including Health Minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, met with the Chief Minister around 10 pm on Friday to convey the decision. The move came after the health minister had earlier warned that staff who did not return to work by Friday evening would be terminated. The Chief Minister welcomed the decision, stating it was in the interest of the state. He said the Chhattisgarh government considers every employee a part of its family and has always been sensitive to their demands. He added that public health is the government’s top priority. General secretary of the Chhattisgarh Pradesh NHM Karmchari Sangh, Kaushlesh Tiwari, said the Chief Minister assured them that the 25 NHM staff terminated on 3 September would be reinstated after cabinet approval. The issue will be placed before the next cabinet meeting. Tiwari added that around 700 NHM staff who were terminated at the district level would also be reinstated soon. He confirmed that all 16,000 striking NHM staff will return to work on Saturday. The state government has fulfilled four of the ten demands. A committee has been formed to address three other demands, while the remaining three—amalgamation, the creation of a public health cadre, and reservation—will be taken up with the Union government.