Unhealthy situation: Govt appears reluctant to yield to protesting nurses

Says it has already given them enough incentive, only few nurses are agitating

PESHAWAR: The health department has decided not to show any flexibility to protesting nurses. It has maintained that demands of the nurses have been accepted. However, only a handful of them are bent upon disrupting law and order to further their own agenda.

This comes in the wake of 32 nurses being arrested. Of the total, 17 were released on bail while the others remain in jail.

Officials told The Express Tribune the department was generous enough to raise pay scales and offer an attractive health professional allowance. However, a few elements were busy instigating student nurses. The department believed these students should be concentrating on their studies instead of holding demonstrations.

Crackdown

Keeping in view the agitation by a few, including union leaders, the department had ordered the registration of cases and charged 150 members for disrupting law and order. The nurses were produced at the local court of judicial magistrate Akbar Ali. The court was informed the nurses were arrested on various charges such as forcing the closure of roads, threatening the police, inciting speeches, illegally using loudspeakers and interrupting police duties.



The police’s request was accepted and 32 nurses, including five women, were sent to prison. The department has also closed nurses’ hostels for seven days and there were speculations that the facilities may be vacated.

Demands approved

Officials said the department accepted almost all the demands of the nurses. They added the uniform allowance for BPS-16 officers was between Rs600 to Rs3,100 and BPS-17 was from Rs600 to Rs2,100. As per the officials, the mess allowance for BPS-16 officers was also increased from Rs500 to Rs8,000 and BPS-17 officers from Rs500 to Rs6,500.

“We raised the monthly stipend from Rs3,500 to Rs5,000 and Rs1,000 was given as health professional allowance, which is a big amount, and has never been matched in history,” a senior health official said.

He added nurses previously had no service structure, but the government had now devised one for different cadres.



“What else can we do for them? We know that once health employees were happy, they will perform duties with more enthusiasm,” the official added. Health officials stated police was clearly told to allow the nurses to protest and not resort to a baton charge. However, the action did occur and several nurses were injured as a result.

The other view

Anwar Sultan, a nurse, said protesting for their demands was a constitutional right. She said if PTI Chairperson Imran Khan could protest against the federal government, they had every right to do so as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2016.