Kavitha Demands Rollback of NHM Salary Cuts, Regularisation of Employees

Telangana Rakshana Sena president Kalvakuntla Kavitha has demanded the immediate withdrawal of the state government's decision to cut the salaries of National Health Mission (NHM) employees, calling it unfair and discriminatory. She urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to intervene and ensure justice for the affected workers.

Speaking to the media at her party office in Banjara Hills on Sunday, alongside leaders of the NHM Employees Joint Action Committee (JAC), Kavitha said nearly 17,000 NHM employees were working across Telangana. She alleged that the monthly salaries of some employees had been reduced by Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000 following the issuance of Government Order 1195.

Questioning the decision amid rising prices and inflation, Kavitha said salary reductions would place an additional financial burden on employees and their families. She criticised the government for increasing the wages of some workers while cutting those of others, describing the move as discriminatory.

She further alleged that the state government was failing to pay NHM employees on time despite the Centre allocating funds for their salaries. Referring to central guidelines providing for an annual five per cent salary increase, she questioned why employees were facing cuts instead of receiving wage revisions.

Kavitha called on the Chief Minister to review the matter immediately and direct the Health Minister to take corrective measures.

Kavitha accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil its promise to regularise NHM employees. She pointed out that seven states had regularised such workers, including Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh. She also cited Andhra Pradesh's reported decision to grant a 30 per cent salary hike and pass an Assembly resolution on regularisation.

Demanding similar measures in Telangana, she stressed that NHM employees were essential to rural healthcare, particularly vaccination drives and medical services in villages. Their absence, even for a day, could affect healthcare delivery.

She also criticised the denial of permission for protests and the Health Minister's alleged failure to meet employee representatives. Kavitha warned of large-scale public protests if the government failed to resolve the salary dispute and address demands for regularisation.