Mysuru: Demanding equal pay for equal work and job security, Contract Health Department Employees under the banner of Karnataka Rajya Arogya Ilakhe Guttige Noukarara Vedike (affiliated to All India National Health Mission Karmachari Sangha) took out a rally today in the city as part of a Nationwide stir.

More than 1,300 contract health employees, including Medical Officers, lab technicians, staff nurses and other health workers from across the district, took out a protest march which commenced from Kote Anjaneyaswamy Temple at the Palace North Gate. The rally passed through Clock Tower, Gandhi Square, Vinoba Road, D. Devaraja Urs Road and JLB road to reach the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office, where the protestors sat on a stir for over an hour before submitting a memorandum containing their charter of demands.

Claiming that the State Government had failed to implement the 2016 Supreme Court ruling that had ordered for indiscriminatory payment of wages, the protestors demanded abolition of contract system of employment and provide job security.

Maintaining that they were employed under the ‘National Health Mission’ aimed at achieving the ‘Health For All’ mission, the protestors said that their work involved several risks and were working without any job security.

They warned of intensifying their protest in future if their demands were not met by the Government.

Vedike District Unit President Dr. Arasu, office-bearers Sashidhar, Rajesh, Srivatsa, Shivakumar, Harish and others took part. Even as they staged a stir, Vedike office-bearers said they had informed the Health Department about the stir well in advance and also to make alternative arrangements for unhindered health services.

Meanwhile, sources in the Health Department maintained that health services across the district were not much affected as the Department had come up with alternative arrangements.