IMPHAL, November 6: Fuming over non-payment of nine-month salary for 97 contractual staff under the State government, All Manipur Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) Works Welfare Union locked the offices of Manipur State TB Cell, and Imphal West District TB Centre, Lamphelpat today evening.
The contractual staffs under the union had launched non-cooperation movement by staying off from their works in Intermediate Reference Laboratory (IRL) in the nine districts and State TB Cell from November 4.
The non-cooperation movement was launched by the contractual staff in protest against the deprivation of the revised scale of 2015-16 under National Rural Health Mission, Government of India.
According to general secretary of the union, contractual staffs of RNTCP have been deprived of monthly salary for the last few years. The staffs have been getting salary for four-five months in a year unlike staffs of other departments.
The inconsistency in providing salary to the staffs is due to the utter failure of the Programme Officers and concerned high officials to discharge their duties accordingly, the general secretary pointed out.
He lamented that the staffs used to face similar situation when they are put under Central TB Division.
The RNTCP was merged together with vertical health programmes in Manipur and State Rural Health Mission Society with the assurance from the Central Government that all of them will be treated equally under a common mission.
After the merger and end of the extension of the contractual staffs for the year 2014-15, order for extension of the staffs for 2015-16 was issued only on October 20 last after seven months from the normal month of March, he rued.
The general secretary of the union also mentioned that it is due to the long time taken in the file process by the concerned officials that they have been disheartened besides depriving them monthly salary for nine months.