Mrunal Manmay Dash

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha State Male & Female Multi Purpose Health Workers’/Health Supervisor’s United Association, which had earlier decided not to take COVID-19 vaccine shots as a mark of protest against government’s alleged neglect towards their designation and cadre, finally agreed to get vaccinated after discussion with the government on Tuesday.

Mamata Nayak, general secretary of Women Health Workers Association said, "The government today assured us to look into our demands of cadre restructure today. So, we have decided to call off the protest and get vaccinated along with other health workers."

"We have discussed all our issues with the government including our demand to change our designation. The discussion ended on a positive note and we are hopeful that the government will keep its promise," said Nayak.

Following the decision, almost 15,000 members of the health workers' association will get COVID vaccine shots on January 28, 2021. Besides, they withdrew their earlier decision to stop work from February 1.

"We have postponed our 'cease work' agitation for one month. Hope, the government will take necessary steps to address our demands," said Nayak.

As per their demand, around 15,000 health workers under the banner have been assigned the same designation and cadre since more than thirty years, and a lot of parameters including required educational qualifications have been changed, but their designation (Health Worker) remains the same.

(Edited By Suryakant Jena)

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