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| Irony! Armed Forces thank COVID-19 warriors, J&K terminates 34 staff nurses | | | Avinash Azad
Early Times Report
Jammu, May 3: On a day when the Indian Army, Air Force and the Navy expressed gratitude to the “Corona Warriors”, the J&K Health and Medical Education Department, terminated services of 34 staff nurses engaged under SRO-24.
The military jets this morning carried out a fly-past over the national capital as part of a nationwide exercise to express gratitude to lakhs of doctors, paramedics, sanitation staff and other front-line workers engaged in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
In J&K the termination order of staff nurses issued by Principal GMC Baramulla, vide no GMC/BLA/2020/1381-89, dated 02/05/2020 read: “As directed by the Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, J&K, the extension order of staff nurses which was issued by this office under order no. 52-GMCB of 2020 dated 06/04/2020 and order no 60-GMCBof 2020dated 30/04/2020 stands cancelled. The services of staff nurses mentioned in these orders are therefore withdrawn w.e.f. 03/05/2020.”
Till date the J&K H&ME department has terminated over 300 members of nursing staff working in five new medical colleges of Jammu and Kashmir on academic arrangement basis. “The decision of disengagement has been taken at a time when government hospitals and health centres are facing shortage of nursing staff and the number of COVID-19 patients and suspects under quarantine is increasing with each passing day”, said one of the disengaged member of nursing staff at GMC Rajouri.
“It’s strange that on one side the J&K Government is planning to re-engage the retired medicos to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and on the other hand its disengaging the youth, who need a job,” the terminated nursing staff member said.
“Today we feel proud, when our security forces i.e. Army, Air Force and Navy carried out special programme to thank Corona warriors, at the same time we feel disgusted that in the time of emergency we are being expelled from the hospitals”, said another terminated health worker, adding, “We want to serve the society in time of pandemic voluntarily. But authorities are not allowing us to do so.”
“The H&ME department has discontinued the services of all the junior staff nurses recruited in last year on academic arrangement basis for five new medical colleges of J&K. The orders didn’t mention any notice period, which is a clear violation of SRO-24 of 2019 under which they were appointed”, he said.
“Disengaging nursing staff will certainly affect the functioning of under-staffed associated hospitals of these medical colleges. Most of the hospitals do not have any back-up to cope with the present situation”, sources said.
“On April 3, the GMC Kathua issued the termination orders and next day GMC Rajouri slapped the termination order to the nursing staff engaged under SRO-24. The administration GMC Rajouri issued back date orders to appease their bosses”, they said.
It is pertinent to mention here that JKNPP Chairman and former Minister, Harsh Dev Singh, has repeatedly demanded withdrawal of the disengagement orders. “The staff nurses hitherto working in GMC Kathua, Rajouri and Doda had been duly appointed last year under SRO-24 and had been rendering their services even in critical times of Corona pandemic as frontline warriors,” Harsh had said.
Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner, Health and Medical Education, J&K did not respond to the repeated calls. |
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