Govt. lab technicians stage protest, plan hunger strike on March 11

They are demanding that 341 positions of laboratory technicians of grade II at the 11 new medical college hospitals that were announced as contractual posts into permanent posts

Members of the Medical Laboratory Technicians’ Association staging a demonstration in support of their demands at the Directorate of Medical Education, in Chennai on Monday. | Photo Credit: B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM

The Tamil Nadu Government Medical Laboratory Technicians’ Association has demanded the government to fulfil their 20 pending demands.

A group of members of the association staged a demonstration near the Directorate of Medical Education offices on Monday asking the government to declare the 341 positions of laboratory technicians grade II in the 11 new medical college hospitals that were announced as contractual posts into permanent time-scale posts and conduct recruitment through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) by following reservation rules.

The association demanded that creation of Chief Technical Officer (CTO) posts, which were under consideration since 2006, and wanted 45 posts to be filled through promotions. They demanded conduct of transfer counselling for grade I and II technicians at the directorate and intra-directorate levels.

The association said they have been putting forward their demands since February 2021. The transfer counselling, which should have been held as usual, had not been conducted. As the next level of protest to put forward their demands, the association would observe a fast on March 11 in Chennai.