Separate protests by contractual employees, tribal bodies rock Ranchi

Hundreds of contractual employees of the Jharkhand health department, hailing from different districts of the state, took to Ranchi streets in the morning, demanding regularisation of service

Two agitations rocked the Jharkhand capital on Monday, one for service regularisation and the other over alleged non-abidance of reservation rules by the government, bringing traffic to a standstill in parts of the city, and inconveniencing numerous commuters on the first day of the week.

Hundreds of contractual employees of the Jharkhand health department, hailing from different districts of the state, took to Ranchi streets in the morning, demanding regularisation of service.

At Albert Ekka Chowk, members representing tribal organisations held a demonstration, alleging they have come to know that the state government was planning to regularise contractual employees without abiding by the reservation norms.

The health department employees, which included nurses, lab technicians and pharmacists, threatened to launch an indefinite hunger strike from Tuesday if the government does not pay heed.

The protesters, some of them claiming to have worked on contract for 15 years, assembled at Ranchi’s Morabadi area, and then took out a march to Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s residence to press for their demand.

They were, however, stopped by the police near Raj Bhavan, around 250 metres from the CM's residence.

A minor scuffle ensued between the protesters and the policemen, who had put up barricades to stop them from moving forward.