‘Systemic failures, mental harassment and disregard by officials behind CHO's suicide'
Raipur: The alleged suicide of a woman Community Health Officer (CHO) posted at Ayushman Arogya Mandir Jangalpur in the Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan district on Thursday has sparked a row over the safety of female CHOs serving in rural areas of the state under the National Health Mission.
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A day after the tragic incident, the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Samudaik Swasthya Adhikari Prakosth alleged that the dedicated woman CHO, Arti Yadav, took her own life due to mental harassment by officials, terming the tragedy a failure of the system.
According to Prakosth president Prafull Kumar, Arti Yadav was a mother to a one-year-old child. A month after losing her husband in an accident, her plea for leave was allegedly rejected.
Away from her home in Durg, she continued to serve alone at the health centre, single-handedly managing numerous responsibilities without any colleagues or support, Kumar said.
He further alleged that a month's salary, three months of performance-based incentives, and funds for the centre were withheld. Attempts for transfer were unsuccessful due to alleged contractual exploitation, and the senior health officer threatening to harm her confidential report (CR), he added.
The recently issued Terms of Reference (TOR) reportedly placed the entire burden on her, demanding that she perform the work of four people alone. The threat of salary deduction two to three days prior allegedly shattered her last hope, he added. "This is not an isolated incident. In the last three years, five CHOs reportedly lost their lives due to work pressure," stated the Prakosth. The Prakosth has demanded appropriate workload, mental health support, and an end to contractual exploitation.
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Meanwhile, CMHO Dr Ashish Sharma told TOI that depression might have been the reason for the suicide. "After her husband's death, she applied for leave twice, and I approved it. I called her three to four days ago to ask if she wanted another extension. Despite the general cancellation of leave due to ongoing 'Susashan Tihar' (Good Governance Festival) in state, I approved her leave. She was a sincere staff member," the CMHO said.
The Prakosth has been continuously striving for the regularisation and transfer of CHOs, along with various other demands.
The number of alleged cases of harassment of female health workers across the state has increased to 25, regarding which the Prakosth has sent letters to health minister Shyam Bihari Jaiswal, minister of women and child development Laxmi Rajwade, and several other senior officials.
Rajwade reportedly sent a letter to the health minister to fulfill the demands but no action has been seen on the ground so far.
Prafull stated that the 3,500 contractual CHOs in the state are agitated, and if govt does not take action in time, they will launch a state-wide agitation.
"90% of the CHOs are women, and most of them are young and unmarried. They are being forced not to leave their headquarters even during the night. Anti-social elements in the locality are trying to take undue advantage of this. We demand that women CHOs be posted within an eight-kilometre radius of their homes for their safety," Prafull told TOI while sharing copies of complaints and FIRs lodged with the police regarding incidents of misbehaviour with female CHOs.
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