Mizoram bans strike by Health Dept employees amid pandemic

AIZAWL: The Mizoram government on Sunday prohibited staging of strike or agitation by the employees of the state health department amid the ongoing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Contractual employees and staff of the National Health Mission are staging an indefinite strike since December 17 demanding regularisation of their service and regular pay.

The order issued by the Health department on Sunday said that no employees of the Health and Family Welfare department should organise a strike during the pandemic as defined in the Mizoram Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1990 as COVID-19 is still prevalent in the state.

"In the wake of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, there is an urgent need to keep a close vigil on the incidence of local and regional spread of the pandemic and any strike if organised by any section or category of employees under the health department would adversely affect health care service delivery, not only for the COVID-19 related cases", the order said.

The order came into effect from 7 pm on Sunday.

Meanwhile, demanding regularisation of their service and regular pay, hundreds of contractual employees and staff of National Health Mission have been staging an indefinite strike since December 17.

The contractural employees are demanding that they should be employed as regular employees under the state health department and further alleged that they were not paid regularly.

However, an official said that the National Health Mission staff have been paid till November.

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