The agitated Auxiliary Nursing Midwifery (ANM) workers locked the health directorate in support of their demands on Monday. The ANM workers under the banner of their association ‘Matra Shishu Evam Pariwar Kalyan Mahila Karamchari Sangh’ stormed into the health directorate and locked its entry in the morning.
The entire staff was kept waiting by the agitated ANMs till afternoon. later a delegation of the association held discussion with the State Director General (DG) of health services, Dr Kusum Narriyal in which an understanding on most demands of the ANMs was reached. Following the assurance, the association suspended it agitation till July 20.
The State President of association Guddi Matura said that the Chief Minister Harish Rawat had assured them that departmental structure of the ANM cadre would be prepared and the issue would be brought before the State Cabinet on March 2016 but till date no such proposal is even mooted by the department. She said that the department should start the process of promotion in the 257 posts of Women Health Inspectors and start recruitment in vacant 440 posts of the ANMs in the health department. The association is also alleging that large scale irregularities occurred in the appointment of ANMs in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts and the state government should immediately cancel these appointments.
The President of the association claimed that the DG health has assured that all the major demands of the association would be solved within next seven days. She said that the association has given a time to the department till July 20 to implement its demands failing which a massive agitation would be launched.