Government heeds to nurses demand on separate cadre

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
In the aftermath of suspension of agitation by Uttarakhand nurses, the state government has accepted the demand of the nurses to create a separate nursing cadre for which one post of additional director will be created, besides two posts of deputy director (earlier one post existed) and one post of joint director.
“We have accepted all the legitimate demands of the nurses and submitted before the court the action-taken report today,” said Dr RP Bhatt, DG, Health.
Among the demands made by the nurses include constitution of Nightingale Award under which Rs 1 lakh will be awarded to the best nurse in each district on Nightingale Day observed on May 12 every year. It also agreed to take the nurses views on the issue for the implementation of the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission, but the contentious issue of hike in grade pay and implementation of dynamic assured career progression so that the nurses are eligible for promotions every five years, has been referred to the Pay Anomalies Committee headed by Uttarakhand Minister for Revenue Yashpal Arya.
Further, the government has also agreed not to take any action against them during the period of the indefinite stir. It has also agreed to increase the monthly nursing allowance from Rs 1,450 to Rs 1,950. However, Anjana Bhowmick, president of the Uttarakhand Nurses Services Association, who has left for Kumaon to hold confabulations with the other nurses, said the agitation was suspended in view of the PIL in the Nainital High Court. “We do not want to create unnecessary problems and are aware of our responsibilities. We decided to suspend our agitation for 15 days in view of the PIL and in the interest of our patients,” she said.
 
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