The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Health assistants take out protest rally

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Aug 12, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Health assistants take out protest rally

By Our Staff Correspondent

MANGALORE, AUG. 11. Junior health assistants in Dakshina Kannada took out a procession and staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner here on Wednesday. They were protesting against the Government Order bringing the services of women junior health assistants under the purview of the gram panchayats.

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, which was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner, the secretary of the district unit of the State Senior and Junior Health Assistants' (Men and Women) Central Association, K. Ramachandra, appealed to the Government to withdraw the order passed on May 20.

He said there were 15,000 women junior health assistants in the State who took the benefits of 25 national health programmes to rural people. As the Government had brought their services under the gram panchayats from the Department of Health and Family Welfare, there was every possibility of their exploitation.

Problems

Mr. Ramachandra said the assistants had to begin work at 8 a.m., but the panchayat offices opened only at 10 a.m. The primary health units and centres and gram panchayat offices in most villages were located 8 km to 10 km away. Even for applying for leave, they would have to travel this distance. This would affect their work.

The memorandum said that the work of the health assistants should be monitored by doctors or other heath officials, he added.

The honorary president of the district unit of the association, K. Mitra, and its president, Jayarama Poojary, addressed the gathering on the occasion.

Protest in Udupi

Our Udupi Staff Correspondent reports:

Nearly 350 members of the Udupi district unit of the State Senior and Junior Health Workers Association staged a dharna in front of the office of the District Health Officer here on Wednesday. The president of the association, Nityananda Gowda, demanded that the Government rescind its order bringing the services of the health workers under the jurisdiction of the gram panchayats. By amending the Panchayat Raj Act, the Government had given powers to the panchayats to maintain the attendance registers, sanction leave and recommend transfer of these workers. The Government Order was unscientific.

The extra-ordinary powers given to the panchayats would make the health workers subservient to these bodies with negative consequences. Though a memorandum had been submitted by the State unit of the association to the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and the department heads, no action had been taken. From Thursday, the taluk units of the association would stage dharnas in front of the three taluk headquarters in the district.

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