Health & Family workers question fund holdup

EMN Dimapur, December 15 Workers of Health and Family department have questioned the departmental authorities for holding up funds meant for various important schemes in the state. The department has already received the first installment of funds meant for a number of centrally-sponsored schemes such as the National Health Mission, Nagaland State AIDS Control Society, Revised National TB Control Programme, Integrated Disease Surveillance Project, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme and the National Programme for Control of Blindness. Adding to the situation, the department has also not released salary of various categories of employees for four to eight months now. The press release stated, “various categories of staff working under the programmes at the state and district levels who solely depend on their monthly salary have not received the same for the last 4- 8 months now.” It has been alleged that the workers of the Health and family department have been struggling with financial hardships as salaries have been withheld even though funds are available in the department. Some are being threatened with eviction notices while others have to borrow money for day-to-day activities including implementation of programs, the press release alleged. A press release appended as being from workers of the Health & family department received here on Monday reminded that the directives issued by the Central Ministry stipulates that the funds should be disbursed to the respective programs and schemes from the state’s treasury within 15 days of receiving funds. “The Central Government’s new policy of routing the fund of all the Centrally Sponsored Schemes through the state Treasury is proving to be disastrous,” the press release stated. “Under the department of Health & Family Welfare, there are various programmes such as the NHM, NSACS, RNTCP, IDSP, NVBDCP, NPCB etc who have received the 1st installment from the government of India sanctioned for the year 2014-15 somewhere in the first week of October this year,” the letter stated. “Much to the dismay of all, the Fund is yet to be released by the state government. It may be mentioned here that according to the directives issued by the central ministry, the fund should be disbursed to the respective Programmes/CSS from the state treasury within 15 days of fund receipt. However, this directive has not been honored and fund has not been released till date,” the statement said. The workers explained that even some categories of staff working under the programmes at the state and district levels ‘who solely depend on their monthly salary have not received the same for the last 4- 8 months now.’ This, the press release explained, has caused “untold hardships for the employees, especially the ones working in the interiors. Throughout the entire period, the staff has been working tirelessly without salary so that the deliveries of health care to the public and particularly to the patients are not compromised.” It was alleged that some of the employees have had to borrow and spent money to carrying out day-to-day-activities as expected by the programmes. “Some have even reported that they are being served with eviction notices by the house owners and the shopkeepers have refused to give credit for their daily needs,” the press release said. “We would like to question the state government as to why these funds are being held up when these funds are sanctioned specifically for health care deliveries as clearly mentioned in the respective sanction letters,” the workers stated. “With the Christmas holidays just a few days away, the staff eagerly awaits their pending salaries in a day or two, expecting that the state government considers the plight of the employees and release the piled up fund sanctioned by the government of India,” the statement added.