SRINAGAR: National Health Mission (NHM) employees across Jammu and Kashmir have announced a 72-hour Union Territory-wide strike from September 9 over the Government’s failure to address their long-pending demands.
The strike will involve NHM employees working at district, block and field levels in both Jammu and Kashmir divisions, including personnel engaged under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and other NHM schemes.
The decision was taken during a virtual meeting of the UT Level Joint Coordination Committee of NHM Employees after the Government and concerned authorities failed to respond satisfactorily to the committee’s September 5 ultimatum.
The committee said repeated representations, discussions and assurances had failed to result in concrete action on the employees’ grievances. It termed the proposed strike a “last resort”, saying efforts to resolve the issues through dialogue had not yielded results.
Kashmir Division president Muneer Andrabi said NHM employees had repeatedly remained patient and placed their confidence in the dialogue process, but the lack of tangible action had left them with no option but to resort to collective action.
Musadiq Rafiq Parra, UT president of NTEP JK, said employees working under NTEP and other NHM schemes would support the UT-level strike, while underlining their role in the public healthcare system.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing strike by MBBS and BDS interns, who are on the sixth consecutive day of protest over their demand for an increase in the monthly internship stipend.
NHM employees had earlier staged a two-day strike in April 2026, after which Health Minister Sakina Itoo assured them that appropriate action would be taken on their grievances.
