Employees working under the National Health Mission (NHM) in Jammu and Kashmir have announced a 72-hour Union Territory-level strike from September 9, citing the government’s failure to address their long-pending demands.
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the UT-level Joint Coordination Committee of NHM Employees on Saturday. The meeting was attended by representatives from both the Jammu and Kashmir divisions, including employees associated with the RNTCP/NTEP programme and other NHM schemes.
The employees had earlier issued a final ultimatum to the J&K government, seeking concrete action on their demands by September 5. However, according to the committee, no satisfactory response or tangible steps were taken before the deadline expired.
Following discussions, the committee unanimously decided that NHM employees across the Union Territory, including NTEP staff and workers under other NHM schemes, would participate in the 72-hour strike. District, block and field-level employees have also been asked to extend their support.
Dr Vikas Sharma, Divisional President of the All JKNHMEA Jammu Division, said the decision was not taken hastily. He said repeated representations, discussions and assurances had failed to resolve the employees’ concerns, leaving them with no option but to proceed with collective action.
Muneer Andrabi, Divisional President of the All JKNHMEA Kashmir Division, said employees had remained patient and continued to rely on dialogue, but the lack of concrete action had forced them to take a democratic course of action.
Musadiq Rafiq Parra, UT President of NTEP J&K, also extended support to the strike, saying the contribution of NHM and NTEP workers to Jammu and Kashmir’s public healthcare system could not be ignored.
The committee described the strike as a last resort after repeated attempts to resolve the issues through discussions and representations. It appealed to employees across Jammu and Kashmir to participate peacefully and maintain unity and discipline.
Employees were also urged to rely only on official communications from the UT-level Joint Coordination Committee and avoid spreading unverified information or rumours.
At the same time, the committee said it remained open to meaningful dialogue with the government and concerned authorities to find an amicable solution in the larger interest of NHM employees and the public healthcare system.
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