Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has directed the state government to take appropriate steps with regard to the recruitment of trained auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs) and multipurpose health workers (female) as per the guidelines of Indian Public Health Standard (IPHS) and the National Health Mission (NHM).
Justice Biswanath Rath pronounced the order on a petition filed by Trained Female Health Workers’ Association president Bishnupriya Singh.
Justice Rath directed the state government to take appropriate steps with regard to the recruitment of the trained ANMs at primary health centres (PHCs), community health centres (CHCs), sub-district health centres and district headquarters hospitals (DHHs).
As per the petition, the state government had temporarily engaged 2,246 and 6,470 ANMs and female health workers in two phases in 2020 to provide healthcare during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ANMs and the female health workers collected swab samples, assisted in contact tracing of Covid patients and provided several other healthcare services by putting their lives in danger, said the petition.
However, the ANMs and the female health workers were recently retrenched by the state government. The retrenched health workers submitted the memoranda to the Chief Minister, Health Minister and the Additional Chief Secretary (Health department) seeking permanent recruitment. But, the state government did not take any step in this regard.
Subsequently, the president of the trained female health workers’ association filed a petition in the HC.
PNN