Thu Mar 20 17:32:44 UTC 2025: ## Andhra Pradesh Health Secretaries Protest Overwork
**Vijayawada, March 20, 2025** – Approximately 400 auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), known as “health secretaries” in Andhra Pradesh, staged a protest in Vijayawada on Thursday, demanding a reduction in their workload. The protest highlights a three-year-long struggle by these healthcare workers, who claim to be overburdened with responsibilities beyond their medical duties.
Around 13,500 of the state’s 18,000 ANMs fall under the village and ward secretariats, reporting to both secretariat and medical officers. This dual reporting structure, according to A.V. Nageswara Rao, honorary advisor of the A.P. United Village and Ward Health Secretaries Welfare Association, leads to excessive workload. In addition to their core medical responsibilities – including health surveys, medicine distribution, and patient inquiries – health secretaries are also tasked with pension distribution and conducting sanitation and household surveys.
Despite previous appeals and instructions from Health Chief Secretary M.T. Krishna Babu to refrain from assigning additional duties, the situation persists, causing burnout among the ANMs. Association president A. Madhavi added that their demands also include merger into the Health and Medical Department, provision of uniforms, and alternative facial recognition system options for those traveling for work. The protestors are calling for urgent intervention to alleviate their workload and improve working conditions.
First Piper 