By TC News Desk
Agartala, 30th July 2024: The state government issued a notice suspending the process of regularizing irregular employees within the Health department. This decision made clear in a notification issued on July 25 confirms that contractual employees will not be regularized. This action has prompted a strong reaction from the Health department’s workforce leading to a strike just five days later.
Currently, the state employs 950 contractual Health workers categorized as DRW (Daily Rated Workers), DRB (Daily Rated Basis) and casual workers. These employees have been advocating for regularization, citing their 25 to 30 years of service since the tenure of the previous government. According to state regulations, employees are eligible for regularization after 10 years of service. However, despite this rule, the previous government did not address their demands, and the current administration, in power since 2018, has also failed to fulfill its promises.
The contractual health workers frustrated by what they see as a betrayal staged a protest in front of the Medical Superintendent’s office at IGM Hospital on Tuesday. “We have given decades of our lives to this service,” said Ratan Debnath, the editor of the irregular health workers’ association. “Yet, despite our long years of commitment, the government refuses to regularize us. Instead, they are regularizing ADC irregular workers, creating an unacceptable division among employees.”
The workers demand the immediate cancellation of the suspension order and call for their prompt regularization. “If the government does not reverse this decision, we are prepared to go on a hunger strike,” Debnath declared. He pointed out that during the Left Front government, employees were regularized after 10 years of service and received benefits such as salary hikes and dearness allowance (DA). “The current government promised regularization but has not kept its word. Many of us are nearing retirement without any security,” he added, noting that the BJP government, since coming to power in 2018, has ceased several benefits, including pension and gratuity.
The health workers’ protest underscores their deep sense of betrayal and deprivation. “We are being pushed into a corner with no pension, no gratuity, and no accrued leave benefits,” lamented another protestor. The future of this movement remains uncertain, but the frustration and determination of these workers are clear as they continue their fight for justice and recognition.
