With their demands for regularisation remaining unresolved and Diwali bonus withheld this year, outsourced employees of the Health Department have threatened to protest outside the residence of Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh in Patiala if their November 12 meeting with Finance Minister Harpal Cheema fails to yield any concrete outcome.
The declaration has been made under the banner of the Outsourced Health Department Employees Union Punjab which stated repeated meetings with the government had could not address their pending demands.
Karanbir Singh Johal, state vice-president of the union, said, “Nearly 7,000 outsourced employees have not received their Diwali bonus this year while their demand for regularisation also remains unresolved. Despite several meetings, the government has failed to act on our concerns. Hence, we want written assurances from the government on regularisation and other pending issues,” he said.
The union is seeking regularisation of outsourced and daily wage workers working under the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC), National Health Mission and various administration schemes. Its other demands include implementation of equal pay for equal work, protection of employees services and restoration of the Diwali bonus.
The latest announcement follows a series of protests and meetings with the government. The union had staged a protest outside the Chief Minister’s residence in Sangrur on October 11, following which a meeting with the Cabinet Subcommittee was scheduled. Initially fixed for October 22, the meeting was ultimately held on November 3 but did not to produce any concrete outcome.
