Women Health and Care Workers Lead "Stop Work" Agitation Against Delayed Payment in India
Feb 18, 2026
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Health and care workers across Nagpur’s Urban Primary Health Centres have launched a “stop work” agitation against months of unpaid wages, exposing the deep precarity faced by the staff. Organised under the Nagpur Municipal Corporation Contract Health Workers Union, the workers—most of them women—are demanding immediate payment of dues, social security benefits, and an end to contractualisation.
Contract health and care workers from urban primary health centres (UPHC) across Nagpur (a town in the Indian state of Maharashtra) are on a “stop work” agitation from 9 February 2026 against the delayed payment that workers have been subjected to for the past one and a half years. The workers are organised as the Nagpur Municipal Corporation Contract Health Workers Union under the Nagpur Municipal Corporation Employees Union (NMCEU).
The staff in urban primary health across India are employed under the National Urban Health Mission, NUHM (a part of the National Health Mission, NHM)[1]. Each centre functions with around 10-12 staff including nursing staff, a medical officer, laboratory technicians, pharmacists, and accountants, most of whom (around 90%) are women. Each centre caters to a population of around 30000-50000 and delivers essential primary health services including out-patient services, maternal and childcare, vaccination drives among others. However, despite the perennial nature of work undertaken, almost all the staff in the UPHCs are employed as contractual staff. This means that they are denied any social security benefits, including no access to health insurance benefits, their leave entitlements are insufficient, and they constantly work under a fear of losing their jobs.
Health and care workers in Nagpur UPHCs have been organising under the NMCEU for the last three years[2]. Through a structured unionising approach that included building capacities of union organisers through regular trainings, the union has grown to include workers across different categories such as nursing staff, accountants, laboratory technicians, and pharmacists. The union’s key demands include social security benefits, including health insurance benefits, for all UPHC workers, and for the government to recognise them as permanent workers and stop contractualisation.
Ongoing Strike
The UPCH staff have been complaining of delayed wages for several months now. In early 2025, staff from several UPHCS complained of not receiving wages for over three months. The union sent several letters to concerned officials in the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, but the trend of delayed wages continued. Additionally, the union shared that workers have also not been paid increased salaries since July 2025. Currently that UPHC staff, including doctors have not been paid for the last four months.
Earlier in 2026, the union called for a planning meeting to take stock of the situation and build consensus on any action plan to address it. Through a unanimous voting it was decided that all UPHC workers would start a “stop work” agitation in early February.
In a letter addressed to the Commissioner of the NHM and the Medical Health Officer, Nagpur Municipal Corporation, the union announced their intention to strike till payment of all delayed wages and other incentives. In the letter the union also highlighted other critical issues workers face including increased burden of work felt by accountants who are employed and receive wages for handling the responsibilities in one centre, but in reality, are made to manage two centres.
From 9 February health and care workers from 44 out of the 51 UPHCs have been on strike. To ensure that services were not completely stopped, workers provided basic health services but stopped all work related to data gathering, documentation, and reporting which are all essential part of the UPHC responsibilities for the government to complete their reporting duties under NHM. This was a deliberate strategy as the union knew that this was where the government would be most affected.
After four days of the agitation, the Nagpur mayor called on the union and asked them to stop the agitation, promising them a resolution in another ten days. However, after deliberations the union felt that this was only a piecemeal attempt to resolve the issue and highlighting that such promises had been made before but were never upheld, the union decided to carry on the agitation.
From 17 February 2026, 125 doctors from 45 UPHCs (out of 51) and 85 health and wellness centres[3] have joined the striking workers and have completely shut down all OPD services. This is a significant success as historically, doctors and medical officers have rarely joined other health and care workers in any joint actions.
Sharing her thoughts on the current agitation, Secretary of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation Contract Health Workers Union, Archana Nagpure said, “All of us give our hundred percent and more, we strive everyday to meet every patient’s needs. But what about our needs? How can the government expect us to work without money? This has been happening for too long now, and we call on the government to respect our rights and stop taking us for granted.”
The union stands strong in their will to continue their agitation till their demands are met.
[2] PSI supported NMCEU organise in UPHCS through regular capacity building workshops as part of our feminist organising approach
[3] These are newly opened centres under the municipal corporation to support UPHCs