By Tripura24.in Bureau
AGARTALA | July 31, 2026: Intensifying their long-standing movement for service security, scores of contractual, casual, and irregular employees stationed under the Health Department gathered outside the Indira Gandhi Memorial (IGM) Hospital premises in Agartala today to observe a ceremonial ‘Black Day’. Sporting black badges on their chests and holding placards, the agitating healthcare staff organized a major protest demonstration, raising loud slogans demanding immediate regularizations and equal pay for equal work.
The peaceful demonstration was organized under the banner of the state contractual employees’ forum, drawing participation from auxiliary nursing staff, sanitation units, ward attendants, and administrative helpers who have been serving on non-regular payrolls for years.
Enduring Decades of Employment Uncertainty
The protesting employees pointed out that despite performing core operational duties alongside permanent healthcare personnel during high-load shifts and emergency crises, they continue to receive meager honorariums without any pensionary or medical safety benefits.
Addressing the gathering outside the hospital compound, forum representatives highlighted how successive administrative deferrals have left thousands of contractual families across Tripura stranded in deep economic hardship.
The primary demands highlighted during today’s ‘Black Day’ demonstration included:
- Permanent Regularization Policy: Formulating a comprehensive, single-window policy framework to regularize all long-serving irregular and scheme-based employees.
- Equal Pay for Equal Work: Enforcing standard pay scale parities for contractual staff performing full-time institutional duties.
- Service Security Protections: Halting all outsourcing attempts or private agency transitions that risk job losses for long-serving ground workers.
”We have dedicated the best years of our youth serving inside government hospitals like IGM, often risking our health to keep basic patient care functional. Yet, when it comes to basic service security, our files are pushed from one department to another. Wearing these black badges today is our silent yet firm message to the administration: we will no longer tolerate empty assurances. If a clear roadmap for regularizing irregular staff is not announced promptly, this movement will expand beyond hospital gates into a full-scale state-wide agitation.” — A protesting employee representative at IGM Hospital.
Demonstrations to Continue Across District Centers
Following the protest meeting outside IGM Hospital, the forum announced plans to submit formal memorandums to senior administrative directors and the Health Department leadership. The organizers reiterated that unless concrete measures are initiated to address their six-point charter of demands, contractual workers across all eight districts will scale up their democratic protests in the coming weeks.
