Tamil Nadu mid-level healthcare providers seek regularisation, higher pay
Tamil Nadu's Mid-Level Healthcare Providers' Union has urged the State to regularise its members, raise basic pay, grant paid maternity leave and re-designate them as Community Health Officers.
The Tamil Nadu Mid-Level Healthcare Providers' Union has submitted a representation to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, pressing for the regularisation of its members along with a higher basic salary, paid maternity leave and formal re-designation as Community Health Officers.
The union, which represents 4,848 health and wellness centres across the State, said in its memorandum that Mid-Level Healthcare Providers (MLHPs) deliver 12 packages of services and carry out 14 types of medical tests. Contractual MLHPs currently receive a basic salary of ₹21,000, revised upward from ₹18,000, while their counterparts in other States are paid between ₹60,000 and ₹70,000 a month in addition to monthly incentives, the petition stated.
Speaking at a press meet on Sunday, the union's State president N. Sundari, secretary R. Jeyasurya and treasurer P. Surya called on the government to ensure that Jan Arogya Samiti funds are put to proper use. They alleged that the money — held in joint bank accounts operated by village panchayat presidents and primary health centre medical officers — is not being directed towards health centre activities or meetings.
According to the office-bearers, regular-scale employees and medical officers make use of the funds, leaving contract staff to meet expenses such as centre maintenance, cleaning of equipment and the purchase of registers from their own pockets.
The union further demanded that graduates of General Nursing and Midwifery and B.Sc Nursing be given preference in nursing recruitment over holders of the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife diploma.