Puri: National Health Mission, Odisha, director Shalini Pandit faced protest from over a hundred ad hoc employees of the district headquarters hospital (DHH) here when she visited the hospital Wednesday afternoon.
Seeking solution to their various issues, the ad hoc employees locked the chief district medical officer’s office gate and held a dharna in the afternoon. Pandit was forced to stay put at the CDMO’s office for half an hour.
On being informed, city deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Khirasagar Nayak and Kumbharpada police inspector in-charge Kulamani Sethi along with armed security personnel reached the spot and tried to pacify the agitators.
However, the agitating employees scuffled with policemen and tried to gherao Pandit seeking a reply from her with regard to their various demands.
According to sources, the ad hoc employees of the DHH have not received their salaries for last eight months. They had raised the issue with the additional district medical officer (ADMO), CDMO and the district collector but to no avail.
The ad hoc employees claimed that they had submitted a memorandum to Pandit seeking her intervention into the issue some days ago. However, the NHM director had rejected the memorandum, they alleged.
“No one is listening to our grievances. We had decided to gherao Pandit to seek a reply from her with regard to our pending salaries,” said an adhoc employee of the DHH.
CDMO Nilakantha Mishra said they have sent the ad hoc employees’ salary file to the Health department. “We have also discussed the issue at a meeting of the Rogi Kalyan Samiti. The issue will be solved soon,” he added.