Shadow Correspondent
Jammu,Oct 19:
Expressing concern over the non release of salaries of FMPHWs of Jammu region for months together, Mr. Harsh Dev JKNPP Chairman and Former Minister today supported the demand of agitating female employees for de-linking their salary from central source of funding and release of their salaries every month on regular basis like other categories of employees of Health Deptt. Castigating the authorities concerned for turning a deaf ear to the most genuine demand of the Female Health workers who were made to languish on the roads for the last 54 days, Mr. Singh sought early settlement of all their issues.
He was addressing the gathering of the FMPHWs sitting on dharna outside the office of Director Health Services Jammu.
With the Health Deptt having created two different heads for salary purposes for Male and Female Health workers respectively, it was the latter who were deprived of regular payment of salaries with the same kept pending for periods ranging from 8-12 months.
It was strange that while Male Health workers received their salaries on regular basis, the Female workers, having a separate salary head, were made to wait for months, he said. “This had promoted not only gender bias in the Deptt but had caused severe problems and economic hardships for the Female MPHWs. Not only that the FMPHWs of Jammu region faced further discrimination on promotion front.
While the DPC of their counterparts in Kashmir region had been held, the Jammu based FMPHWs were deprived of the same for the last five years”, regretted Singh.
Flaying the Health Deptt for its criminal apathy towards the genuine concerns of the agitating female employees, Mr. Singh sought early redressal of their grievances in a time bound manner.
He said that with such employees made to sit on roads for the last around 2 months, the govt had made the most contemptuous mockery of its own slogan of “Beti Bachao-Beti Padao”.
Not only the FMPHWs but the Anganwari workers, Asha workers, contractual female lecturers had also been forced to take to roads during the saffron rule which otherwise made haughty, supercilious claims of empowerment of women.
Mr. Harsh Dev Singh later met Advisor to Governor Mr. B.B Vyas in the afternoon today at Jammu and submitted him a memorandum highlighting other grievances of FMPHWs including clearance of their DPCs on the analogy of their Kashmir counterpart, up-gradation of posts of FMPHWs on the analogy of Pharmacists, Ophthalmic technicians etc, creation of posts of LHVs in PHCs, Amendment of SRO-20 dated 20-04-1992 pending in the Administrative Deptt. He further discussed with the Advisor the issues relating to regularization of MGNREGA, NHM employees and contractual lecturers of Education Deptt.
Those who accompanied Mr. Singh included Gagan Pratap Singh, Capt. Anil Gour, Parshotam Parihar and Surinder Chouhan.
