CHOs urge govt. to address long-pending demands

After the State government provided assurance to the PHC doctors and managements of Dr. NTR Vaidya Seva-empanelled hospitals, Community Health Officers (CHOs) have urged the government to lend them an ear and resolve their issues at the earliest.

Pointing out that they have been waiting for a meeting with Minister for Health Satya Kumar Yadav since May, Sandeep Kumar, secretary of Andhra Pradesh Midlevel Health Provider/Community Health Officers’ Association, said, “We called off our strike, held from April 17 to May 26, after the government assured us that our issues would be addressed. We were promised that a meeting with the Minister would be scheduled immediately to discuss our demands.”

But, five months have passed since then, and the CHOs continue to wait for a date for the meeting. In the meanwhile, their demands, including removal of Facial Recognition System (FRS), payment of incentive arrears and rent, provision of transport allowance, a fixed pay, remain unfulfilled.

Recently, CHOs, who work in Village Health Clinics (VHCs) or Ayushman Aarogya Mandirs, had to fill in for PHC (Primary Health Centres) doctors, who were on a strike for more than a month. Moreover, 545 VHCs in the State do not have an ANM, whose duty, too, has now been added to the CHOs’ list of responsibilities.

“We have no transport allowance, no fixed pay and no incentives, and yet, the government wants to take up additional responsibilities. How long can we go on like this,” he asked. The CHOs are yet to receive monthly incentives of ₹15,000 for seven months.

There are around 10,000 VHCs in the State, which are manned by one CHO, an ANM and two or three ASHAs. Some of these centres, which were opened across the country in 2018, are still being run in rented buildings in the State. The CHOs are having to make out-of-pocket expenses towards rent and electricity bills.

The CHOs are supposed to receive around ₹25,000 as salary and ₹15,000 towards incentives. But, incentives have been pending for seven months.

“The State government has not reimbursed the rents or electricity bills for 10 months in some centres. The rents, usually between ₹2,000 and ₹3,000, are paid by CHOs,” says Mr. Sandeep Kumar. He added that they also are having to spend on getting medical infrastructure and on flooring, carpentry, and miscellaneous expenditures.

“We also work in tribal areas and in remote villages. Are we not health workers? Why is the government not addressing our issues? All we ask for is one meeting with the Minister,” he said.