Staff nurses and para-medical staff of the National Rural Health Mission (NHRM) in Manipur Sunday threatened to launch a pen-down strike if the authority fails to provide “Performance Based Honorarium (PBH)” within a month.

Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club, Imphal, representatives of the staff nurses and para-medical staff alleged that the ‘performance based honorarium” meant for them has not been provided to them till date by the authority.

Ng Monota, State Programme Manager, State Health Society, threatened that if the authority fails to consider their demands within August 16, they would launch a pen-down strike with effect from the next day.

She asserted that the PBH was not a prospective calculation over fixed pay but simply a residual nomenclature to accommodate consolidated salary for the staff.

Recalling a resolution adopted in one of the meetings governing body of the society on May 2, 2009, she said that the meeting held under the chair of the then Manipur chief secretary had approved the in-principle the proposal for payment of performance based honorarium.

The approval was given considering that the PBH was expected to improve staff attendance, especially in remote and rural locations, and also incentivize better services.

It was decided to undertake an analysis/review under Chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Finance) before actual implementation. It was also suggested that for the various performance indicators, targets should be identified in due course, she asserted.

Reiterating to enforce PBH among NRHM staff, Monota urged all its staff and public to guard against misrepresentation of facts and deliberate attempt to malign the image of NRHM programme, reacting to a news reports about the salary structure of contractual staff under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), the State Health Society, NTHM, Manipur.
She clarified that the salary paid to the staff was in accordance with the approval of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.