Karnataka NHM health officers to march to Bengaluru, begin indefinite dharna

More than 5,000 Community Health Officers (CHOs) employed under the National Health Mission (NHM) in Karnataka will take out a padayatra on September 28 and begin an indefinite dharna in Bengaluru, their unions have announced.

The march is to start at Siddaganga Mutt in Tumakuru and end at Freedom Park in Bengaluru, where the protesting employees will settle into an open-ended sit-in. The programme was announced at a press conference in Kalaburagi by Trade Union Centre of India national general secretary R. Manasayya and Sumit Gaikwad, State president of the Akhila Karnataka State Community Health NHM Contractual Employees Union.

At the centre of the dispute is the State government's decision to make B.Sc. Nursing the prescribed qualification for Primary Health Care Officer (PHCO/ANM) and Health Inspection Officer (HIO) posts. The unions contend that the requirement would damage the career progression, cadre protection and job security of CHOs already working under the NHM.

Mr. Manasayya said the intention behind the change was to replace serving contractual staff with fresh recruits. He noted that the union had filed detailed objections at a meeting chaired by the Mission Director, NHM, on September 9, but that after the final Gazette notification was published on September 15, the Health Department had not given a reasoned account of how those objections were addressed.

The employees are demanding immediate regularisation of all working CHOs along with complete job security. They have also called for the withdrawal of the B.Sc. Nursing qualification for the PHCO (ANM) and HIO posts, and for guaranteed cadre protection, clear career progression and promotion avenues for serving CHOs.

Among their other demands are the deferment of the ongoing relocation and transfer process until all pending issues are settled through discussion, revision of the Terms of Reference for CHOs in line with Union government guidelines, a transparent inter-district transfer policy, and a revision of salaries in keeping with their duties and workload.

The union leaders said the agitation would be peaceful and democratic, and urged the government to address the grievances before the padayatra begins.