PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
Alleging betrayal of assurance to end privatisation of government labs, the Medical Lab Technologist Association of Uttarakhand on Wednesday warned of intensified agitation as the government has restarted the tender process to hand over hospital labs to private agencies.
The concern was raised by president of Medical Lab Technologists Association of Uttarakhand Ashish Chandra, general secretary Mayank Rana and other association members while addressing the media here on Wednesday.
Rana claimed that the government had promised to end privatisation of government labs, but the tender process is being restarted through the National Health Mission (NHM). He said that a committee had previously been formed to strengthen government labs and conduct all tests in-house. Despite this, preparations are now underway to have government labs operated through private agencies.
He added that the association questioned why, when there is talk of strengthening government health services, labs are being contracted out instead of filling regular posts.
Rana said that they (unemployed degree-holding lab technicians) have been protesting at Ekta Vihar Dharna site for 135 days for their demands. Despite the chief minister’s directive, the scheduled meeting to resolve their problems at the government level is being repeatedly postponed, which is increasing resentment among technicians, he said.
He further added that the association demanded a halt to the tender process and warned that agitation will be intensified if it is not done.
Rana said action should also be taken on their other demands soon. Main demands of the association include immediate creation of required and vacant posts of Medical Lab Technicians as per IPHS standards, starting a transparent regular recruitment process by implementing service rules based on year-wise merit, one-time age relaxation for candidates who have completed or are about to complete the age limit due to non-recruitment and stopping privatisation of government hospitals and laboratories and making appointments on regular posts, he said.
