Shillong, Sept. 2: Nurses of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) today set a 30-day deadline for their authorities, including the Union health ministry, to fulfil their demands.
The nurses, under the banner of the All-India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF), held a peaceful protest at the institute located in Mawdiangdiang, on the outskirts of the Meghalaya capital. They put forth a charter of 10 demands ranging from pay and allowances to reducing their working hours to 40 hours per week.
In a statement, NEIGRIHMS Nurses Association (NNA) general secretary L. Anand said, the nurses should be granted risk, telephone, conveyance, and night duty allowances. It also said that nursing allowance should be doubled.
Moreover, Anand said the nursing teaching staff pay should be revised according to the Sixth Pay Commission.
Further, the association has demanded extension of benefits and allowances for all cadres of employees of NEIGRIHMS on a par with AIIMS. The association also demanded regularisation of services of the employees appointed on contract. "All the outsourced nurses should be appointed on contract. No outsourcing of nurses should be exercised according to government of India orders," Anand said.
Stating that the NEIGRIHMS administration and Union health should settle the demands of the nurses within 30 days, the association warned, if the demands were not met within the stipulated period, the nurses of NEIGRIHMS would intensify their protest.
