Reza Mahmud :
Bangladesh Health Assistant Association is going to launch work abstention for indefinite period demanding technical hand status and upgradation of their posts and wages with reviewing of job rules, from today.
Besides, they will also observe sit in programme in their respective upazila health complex premises until their demands are met.
Officials from health sectors said that the indefinite work abstention by the health assistants will jeopardise the total health service delivery work in the country.
Especially, about 1,20,000 outreach routine vaccinisation work, including the measles and rubella vaccine programme starting from December 5 will be hampered seriously.
Earlier they had called the work abstention from a press briefing in National Press club on November 20.
“We are going for strike from Thursday to press home our legal and appropriate demands to give us technical hand status as we are working in technical field and give us the right gradations and wages which we deserve,” Md. Wasi Uddin Rana, Member-Secretary of Bangladesh Health Assistant Association, told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said, “We are working in technical field. We are to vaccinise the people but are treating officially as non-technical hands, but on the other hand, who are vaccinising animals in veterinary department are treating as technical hands, it is a clear discrimination against us. We demand its elimination.”
Sources said about 20,000 employees among the Health Inspectors, Assistant Health Inspectors and Health Assistants joined the work abstention programme.
As per their demands, Health Inspectors have to be lifted from their current grade 14th to 11th. They are also persuading gradation 15th to 12th for Assistant Health Inspectors and from 16th to 13th for Health Assistants.
Sheikh Rabiul Alam Khokon, convener of the organization said, “The then government gave responsibility to the health assistants to vaccinate people to eliminate smallpox and malaria on 70th decades. Thanks of our honest and utmost efforts the two diseases are eliminated from the country.”
Then the government also gave them responsibility to vaccinate people in order to eliminate Tuberculosis, Polio, Tetanus, Whooping cough, Diphtheria, Hepatitis-B, Haemophilus influenza, Pneumonia and measles -rubella.
Due to the work of these grassroots health assistants, Bangladesh has become a role model in the world in vaccination and has received seven awards, they claimed.
An international organization Global Alliance for ‘Vaccination and Immunization conferred the title of Vaccine Hero on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently.’
The health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants are behind these glorious achievements, he said. The leaders said as per the public service rule, a government service holder get promotion within three to seven years. But these grass root health sectors workers failed to get appropriate promotion even in 20 to 25 years.
“We are demanding nothing excess. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured us to acknowledge our status as technical post in 1998. We want to realization that commitment only,” said Abul Khayer Tito, Health Assistant of Dadpur Union, Boalmari of Faridpur district.
Tito said that they want to return to work as soon as their dignity to be realised.
Bangladesh Health Assistant Association is going to launch work abstention for indefinite period demanding technical hand status and upgradation of their posts and wages with reviewing of job rules, from today.
Besides, they will also observe sit in programme in their respective upazila health complex premises until their demands are met.
Officials from health sectors said that the indefinite work abstention by the health assistants will jeopardise the total health service delivery work in the country.
Especially, about 1,20,000 outreach routine vaccinisation work, including the measles and rubella vaccine programme starting from December 5 will be hampered seriously.
Earlier they had called the work abstention from a press briefing in National Press club on November 20.
“We are going for strike from Thursday to press home our legal and appropriate demands to give us technical hand status as we are working in technical field and give us the right gradations and wages which we deserve,” Md. Wasi Uddin Rana, Member-Secretary of Bangladesh Health Assistant Association, told The New Nation on Wednesday.
He said, “We are working in technical field. We are to vaccinise the people but are treating officially as non-technical hands, but on the other hand, who are vaccinising animals in veterinary department are treating as technical hands, it is a clear discrimination against us. We demand its elimination.”
Sources said about 20,000 employees among the Health Inspectors, Assistant Health Inspectors and Health Assistants joined the work abstention programme.
As per their demands, Health Inspectors have to be lifted from their current grade 14th to 11th. They are also persuading gradation 15th to 12th for Assistant Health Inspectors and from 16th to 13th for Health Assistants.
Sheikh Rabiul Alam Khokon, convener of the organization said, “The then government gave responsibility to the health assistants to vaccinate people to eliminate smallpox and malaria on 70th decades. Thanks of our honest and utmost efforts the two diseases are eliminated from the country.”
Then the government also gave them responsibility to vaccinate people in order to eliminate Tuberculosis, Polio, Tetanus, Whooping cough, Diphtheria, Hepatitis-B, Haemophilus influenza, Pneumonia and measles -rubella.
Due to the work of these grassroots health assistants, Bangladesh has become a role model in the world in vaccination and has received seven awards, they claimed.
An international organization Global Alliance for ‘Vaccination and Immunization conferred the title of Vaccine Hero on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently.’
The health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants are behind these glorious achievements, he said. The leaders said as per the public service rule, a government service holder get promotion within three to seven years. But these grass root health sectors workers failed to get appropriate promotion even in 20 to 25 years.
“We are demanding nothing excess. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured us to acknowledge our status as technical post in 1998. We want to realization that commitment only,” said Abul Khayer Tito, Health Assistant of Dadpur Union, Boalmari of Faridpur district.
Tito said that they want to return to work as soon as their dignity to be realised.
