National Health Mission contract employees staged a dharna near the collectorate in Karimnagar on Tuesday, pressing the Telangana government to regularise their services and extend employment benefits available to permanent staff.
The workers also demanded equal pay for equal work, citing Supreme Court guidelines. Their other requests included 180 days of maternity leave, access to the Employees’ Health Scheme (EHS) and coverage under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) system.
The protest brings attention to the employment structure supporting National Health Mission services in Telangana, where a significant workforce has been engaged on contract terms. Karimnagar MLA Gangula Kamalakar extended support to the agitation and urged the government to consider regularising the workers.
Kamalakar said NHM employees had been discharging their duties on a contract basis for the last 20 years. He also said there were 17,000 such workers in the state and argued that regularising their services would not impose a significant financial burden on the government.
The demands combine employment security with service-related benefits. Regularisation would address the workers’ long-term contractual status, while equal pay, maternity leave and health insurance access relate to their remuneration, workplace protection and social security. The demands were raised collectively during the Karimnagar demonstration near the district collectorate.
The Supreme Court’s principle of equal pay for equal work was specifically cited by the employees in seeking parity. The report did not provide details of the workers’ current pay structure, the government’s position on regularisation, or whether any formal proposal has been submitted for consideration.
The size of the workforce cited by the MLA indicates that any decision would apply beyond Karimnagar. It would involve employees working under the National Health Mission across Telangana and would require the state government to determine the administrative and financial implications of changing their employment status.
For now, the immediate development is the continuation of the workers’ agitation and the public support extended by the Karimnagar MLA. The employees are seeking action from the Telangana government on regularisation, pay parity, maternity leave and EHS and ESI benefits.
