‘Salary Discrimination’: Govt health workers to go on indefinite strike from Nov 26

All health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants will start work abstention for an indefinite period from November 26, demanding a solution to "salary discrimination".

As a result, the routine vaccination programmes and the measles-rubella campaign slated for December 5 have now become uncertain.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam Khokon, convener of Bangladesh Health Assistant Association (BHAA) announced their abstentionprogramme yesterday at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka.

Their demands include promotion of all health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants from grade 16 to grades 11, 12 and 13.

Sheikh Rabiul Alam said, "We are so discriminated against that none of us is awarded promotion even after 20 years in government service. Only a few get promotion five to six months before retirement. We want the government to stop this discrimination."

Health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants are staffers under the Directorate General of Health Services who work for the vaccination programmes of the government, a BHAA press release said. 

In the 1970s, health assistants were assigned for small pox and malaria vaccination programmes and those diseases were eliminated in the country, it added.

Later, on April 7, 1979, these health staffers were assigned under the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), under which vaccinations of 10 types of diseases are being conducted in 1.2 lakh centres across the country, the press release said.

The government is also preparing for the Covid-19 vaccination through the EPI programme, according to the DGHS.

During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, these health workers were assigned for Covid-19 control activities.

So far, more than 800 health inspectors, assistant health inspectors and health assistants have gotten infected with novel coronavirus, claimed BHAA.

They said they were assured at different times that their demands would be met by government high-ups including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Health Minister Zahid Maleque, former health secretary Ashadul Islam and former director general of DGHS Prof Dr Abul Kalam Azad.

On February 20 this year, they had postponed a previous work abstention upon assurances that their demands would be met, BHAA said.