Female health attendants deprived of legal benefits
With a view to provide medical facilities to children and pregnant women, the Government of India in the Sixth Five-year Plan in 1981, decided to establish sub health centers in rural areas of the country. Accordingly Assam government had to open sub health centers in every village having population of 5,000 in the plain and 3,000 in the hilly areas. For every sub health centre one nurse was appointed and for their help one female attendant was also appointed. In addition to this one lady health visitor (supervisor) was also appointed for six sub health centers.
As per the system of Assam Government, the nurses and supervisors get the salary according to third grade employees as recommended by Pay Commission. Besides, they are entitled to the benefits announced by the Commission from time to time. But the female attendants were initially offered a salary of Rs.50 per month by the state government in the year 1981 and till now they are getting the same. These female attendants also get rupees one hundred per month from the Central government.
Demanding the increase in their salary and status to Fourth grade employees, their organization, the Assam Health Centers Female Attendants Association approached to the Central government to regularize their services and give them the status of Fourth grade employees. The Union government advised to put their demand before the state government, but the state government did not heed to their demands and said that the Central government could raise their status and increase pay. Since then these poor employees are running from pillar to post.
Getting no remedy, the Association moved to the Gauhati High Court in the year 2000 against the Central as well as State government. The High Court ordered payment of the salary at the rate of Rs.900 per month and regularization of their services with effect from 1991. Since the 1981 pay commission had declared the attendants as the Fourth grade employees, they demanded the increase, but the state government continued paying Rs.50 till now.
Meanwhile, in 1991Assam government started paying Rs.900 per month to 218 female attendants alongwith the arrears out of 4,500 female attendants throughout the state. The Central and State government moved Apex court against the high court order questioning the status of Fourth grade employees. The Apex court ruled that the Central government was not responsible for regularizing their services and treat their services as Fourth grade employees. This was under the jurisdiction of the State government. The order added, since the Central government did not appoint these employees it cannot be held responsible. On 17th November 2007, Gauhati High Court ruled that the Assam government should regularize their services with effect from1991 within eight weeks.
The state government further moved to the Apex court on the plea that these female attendants were not the employees, but the volunteers. The Apex court ruled out the decisions of High Court declaring the female attendants as Fourth grade employees. The Association’s president Binita Baishya and Secretary, Aisha Khatoon have recently informed to the media persons in Guwahati that they would continue their struggle till the end and move further to the Apex court for justice.
Random Stories
10 Oct 2022 - 4:08pm |
Kazu Ahmed
Helsinki, October 9, 2022: I was at our terrace this afternoon. My partner Salla opened the back door, and with a combination of shock, bewilderment and sadness told me, "Bruno Latour has died." Very...
19 Jul 2012 - 12:06am |
editor
The chairperson of the National Commission for Women Mamata Sharma on Wednesday suggested a slew of measures to ensure safety and security of women in the state. During his hurricane visit to...
6 Jul 2014 - 10:24pm |
AT News
Bombs are back in BTAD areas. Unidentified militants struck again in the area leaving three people injured on Sunday in Chirang distrcit. Three people sustained serious injury when some unidentified...
25 Aug 2015 - 7:14pm |
Hantigiri Narzary
DoNER minister Dr Jitendra Prasad Singh said on Tuesday said that BJP is the only mainstream political party having internal democracy. Talking to reporters on Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma’s move to join...
Other Contents by Author
The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had expressed his views on the importance of 'healthy work culture' in the Harijan newspaper of 15th October,1938, emphasizing on hard work by the people of the country for attaining the goal of freedom. He dared to declare that 'declaring his birthday as a holiday should be treated as a cognizable offence'. This was a clear indication that the 'Great Soul' was confident of the might of his people, which later on succeeded in bringing freedom to the country. His experiments on Swadeshi movement brought good results. But it seems that the present situation has completely changed the whole thing and Mahatma’s dreams are shattered.Unfortunately, with...
The most respected and appreciated growth of the print media in Assam and particularly in Guwahati, for more than a decade seems to have taken a destructive path giving birth to a trend of malice among the communities they belong. It is now being used for personal grudge among the so called high profile people in the society.Since most of the media houses are controlled by major business houses, it has been noticed that they have themselves become news for last few months through their own acts and publication. Recently, it has been noticed that a few vernacular news papers defying all the ethics of journalism, have started mudslinging on their rivals for quite some time. Knowing it very...
Since the year 1989, Guwahati, the gateway to the north eastern India, has seen a mushroom growth in the Fourth Estate with entry of a number of newspapers and periodicals in various languages. Earlier, a few English and Assamese newspapers were published in Guwahati. For getting the major and detailed news, the people had to wait till evening for newspapers from Delhi and Kolkata. No doubt the haphazard growth in the print media gave an opportunity to a large number of unemployed educated youths to join this challenging profession of prestige. With the information technology witnessing development at fast pace, the media houses failed to get the competent and trained workforce to...
India’s Lok Sabha polls in 2014, has brought a significant change in political scenario of the country after a decade’s rule of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by the century old Indian National Congress (INC). Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has come to power after ten years’ of struggle under the leadership of Narendra Modi, former chief minister of Gujarat. Although the BJP has got absolute majority in the polls, it has kept its flock together giving all the pre-poll alliance members their due share in the administration. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has assured the countrymen of fair deal in the interest of all sections of the...
Problem-torn state of Assam for several years is now passing through a critical situation on which the Congress Party-led state government seems to have turned deaf ears and eyes-shut, despite hectic efforts of local people, NGOs and media covering the news from each and every corner of the state. The party in power for last thirteen years is divided among several factions contesting to gain maximum benefit out of the prevailing situation. The entire state is running under serious violence related to burning houses of inmates, murder, theft, communal hatred, abduction, indecent behavior against womenfolk and aged persons, but the administration is standstill. Criminals are active and have...
Ignoring their leaders directive Reang refugees from various Tripura camps are moving to their homeland in Mizoram in disguise. For about fifteen years of hardship in various refugee camps of Tripura, the evacuated people from their homes seem to have lost confidence in their leaders, who did not agree to return to their homeland despite several proposals for their safe return to their state. A recent media report says that so far 631 people belonging to 124 families have returned to their homes under disguise. However, according to Tripura government sources only 178 members of 27 families have gone so far. Thousands of Reangs were driven out of their homes due to conflicts with Mizo...
Failures of Congress Party in the state of Assam during recently concluded Lok Sabha polls has shattered the dreams of state chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, who had promised before the Congress high command to win more than half of the total seats for his party. The state has 14 parliamentary seats, out of which Congress could get 3 (three) seats only. The ‘courageous’ chief minister did not lose heart even at this defeat. The defeat led the Congress party in turmoil and some legislators of the party revolted against the leader of the House and demanded change in the leadership. The chief minister refused to bow down on the demands of those who desired the appointment of a new leader to lead...
India claims to be the largest democratic country in the world. In a country where majority of people do not get proper education about their status other than to vote for a political party or an individual on the basis of their ‘vague assurances’ to look into their welfare being in power only does not carry any meaning. India’s constitution provided specific conditions to educate the people within shortest time after independence, so that they could be in position to think about right or wrong policies of the government and raise their voice against the ‘evil designs’ of their destiny makers. The constitution has been amended hundred times, but the people in general could not be benefitted...
Will power has an important role in human life and those who have stamina to fight all odds, set an example for others to follow for a successful life. Even disability can be defeated if a person has determination to lead a peaceful life. We find a number of cases in the world when people lose heart on their failures in life. At the same time there are certain exceptions, who despite many odds in their life make it worth living by their strong will power. Here is an example of the life of a person who came out from a small village of Siyani Belchhi in the district of Jamui in Bihar. Born on January 2,1952, Rakesh Pathak became a handicap suffering from paralysis in his right leg at his...
The election process for the 16th Lok Sabha in India is going on full swing and by the middle of May 2014, the complete picture of winning candidates would come out. The reign of the country for the next five years would go in the hands of mostly new faces. As there is a ‘good crop’ of leaders spreading throughout the 29 states and seven Union territories having a number of political parties spread throughout the country facing different administrative, natural and environmental problems, the election results are not likely to go for a single party rule. Speculations are on the air that post poll polarization of political forces may take place just after the final poll results are...
Add new comment