Nurses working under the Uttar Pradesh health department may soon get the option to serve in their home districts, with deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak on Saturday instructing officials to draft a proposal for the move. The directive aims to bring parity with nurses in the UP director general of medical education (DGME), who already enjoy this facility.
While addressing the 18th convention of the Rajkiya Nurses Sangh, Pathak asked director general (medical health) Dr Ratan Pal Singh Suman to prepare and send a detailed proposal on home district postings and the filling of long-pending vacancies at hospitals and the directorate.
“I have received several demands from nurses. Some can be resolved at my level. The director general should send me a proposal on their request for home district posting and vacancies,” Pathak said.
Thousands of nurses working under the department have long sought transfers closer to their native districts to care for their families during emergencies. The association’s general secretary, Ashok Kumar, submitted the proposal, which was also presented before the minister.
Pathak, who also holds the health portfolio, praised nurses for their dedication. “Just as doctors are seen as God for treating patients, nurses, too, command equal respect for their tireless service. I know nurses in UP work very hard, often under challenging conditions,” he said.
The nurses’ body also demanded preference for contractual nurses in permanent recruitment, appointment of a registrar from the nursing cadre in the Uttar Pradesh Nursing Council, and promotion-based filling of senior posts lying vacant since before 2010.
{{/usCountry}}The nurses’ body also demanded preference for contractual nurses in permanent recruitment, appointment of a registrar from the nursing cadre in the Uttar Pradesh Nursing Council, and promotion-based filling of senior posts lying vacant since before 2010.
{{/usCountry}}Other key demands included cadre reorganisation as per central norms, restoration of the old pension scheme, abolition of privatisation, and inclusion of the nursing cadre in the state-rewarded category, similar to police and teachers. They also sought a two-year service extension for nurses honoured by the President.
Pathak said some issues required interdepartmental consensus and asked the association to submit a detailed memorandum for review.
The convention was attended by additional director Dr GP Gupta, Balrampur Hospital medical superintendent Dr Devashish Shukla, association president Sharlie Bhandari, spokesperson Sunil Kumar, Kamal Srivastava, and Pradeep Gangwar.