A large number of community health officials posted in rural areas of Maharashtra assembled at the Azad Maidan in Mumbai for a one-day strike to press for their various demands including a permanent government job.
Their other demands include reduction in workload, allotment of wages on time and insurance by the state government. Community health officers (CHOs) work in rural areas at primary health centres.
They are currently working on a contract. Although their contracts get renewed, the CHOs have now demanded to make them permanent employees of the state government, sources said.
The one-day strike will affect the basic check-up of patients for cold, cough, fever and routine maternal visits that are scheduled for Wednesday, claimed a government doctor from Latur, who has come to Mumbai to be a part of the strike.
The state government used to give a five per cent increase in monthly wages every year to CHOs, but it is not implemented since 2017. The government should clear those dues, he said.