Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Over 30,000 outsourced health employees staged protest across the state to press for their unfulfiled demands on Wednesday.
In line with the state-wide agitation, workers in Bhopal gathered in large numbers and staged demonstrations at JP Hospital in Bhopal. They are pressing their nine-point demands, including regularisation of services, fixing minimum salary and a permanent policy like Haryana.
Amid the scorching heat, a woman health worker reached to join protest with her toddler. She fainted amid the sloganeering, triggering panic among the crowd. She was given wate, following which she was sent for treatment.
The protesting employees are demanding regularisation and other benefits. They tried to take out a justice march from the Directorate of Health Services office to the Chief Minister’s residence, but the administration stopped them from moving out of the area.
The nine-point demands are :
Outsourced employees should be regularised without conditions against vacant Class III and Class IV posts, or be formally included under contract service.
A permanent policy for outsourced employees should be framed in Madhya Pradesh, similar to Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
A minimum monthly salary of ₹21,000 should be fixed for all outsourced health workers.
The 11 months’ pending arrears of the revised salary, effective from April 1, 2024, should be paid immediately with clear written orders.
Private outsourcing agencies should be removed and salaries should be directly transferred to employees’ bank accounts.
Outsourced workers should be given the benefit of government holidays like regular employees.
A 50 percent reservation should be provided to outsourced workers in regular government recruitment.
Health insurance coverage should be provided to all outsourced employees.
Gratuity benefits should be extended to outsourced health workers.
Health Services Affected
The statewide agitation began on February 25, 2026, and has intensified in Bhopal with a “Nyay Yatra” (justice march) and a collective strike.
Due to the protest, health services at district hospitals and primary health centres have been affected.
In Bhopal, nearly 3,000 employees are protesting inside the campus of JP Hospital. The protesters raised slogans against the state government and the health department. A heavy police force was deployed at the hospital premises, barricades were put up, and all entry and exit routes were closed. The protesters were stopped at the main gate and continued their demonstration there.
During the protest, the woman employee participating in the Nyay Yatra fainted inside the JP Hospital campus.
She had come to the protest along with her two-and-a-half-year-old child. Fellow employees took care of the child, while the woman, identified as Meena, was laid on a platform near the Directorate of Health Services.
Representatives from several unions, including the AIDS Control Employees Union, Joint Dengue-Malaria Employees Union, All Health Officers Employees Federation, Contract Outsourced Health Workers Union, and Nursing Officers Association, joined the protest.
Surendra Singh Kaurav, state president of the Samast Health Officers and Employees Federation, said contract employees have been protesting since February 2, but officials are not listening to their demands.
