Protest ends: Thirty-six Polyclinic nurses reinstated
The plea of Polyclinic Hospital nurses has been finally answered by the Ministry of Health.
ISLAMABAD:
After spending the whole night in the freezing cold in front of parliament house, the plea of Polyclinic Hospital nurses were finally answered by the Ministry of Health. Their termination orders were withdrawn on Saturday.
The government reinstated 36 of the 53 nurses who were terminated from their jobs on January 26 by Polyclinic Hospital Executive Director Dr Shaukat Kiani, before the end of their contractual period and without any prior notice from the administration. The remaining 17 nurses withdrew their names from the contention after they found jobs elsewhere.
The nurses protested against the termination of their jobs by staging a sit-in in front of parliament house on Friday, demanding to be regularised. They remained there till Saturday evening. During this time no official from the Ministry of Health tried to negotiate with them.
Later on Saturday, ex-parliamentarian Mian Muhammad Aslam, Member National Assembly Tariq Fazal Chaudhary and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Amir Mughal joined them.
Eventually Abid Chana, a senior official from the Ministry of Health, Dr Shaukat Kiyani, and Polyclinic Deputy Executive Director Dr Zahid Hussain, came to announce the withdrawal of the termination orders and extensions to their contracts.
“Currently Pakistan is facing a shortage of nurses, therefore to motivate more people towards this profession, there is a need to take care of their rights,” said Dr Kiyani.
He said there are presently 31 vacant posts in Polyclinic for nurses and the remaining five nurses will be adjusted in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
The nurses were terminated because they failed their Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) examinations, according to Polyclinic Hospital spokesperson Dr Sharif Astori.
But now that they have been reinstated, Dr Kiyani said he hoped these nurses will pass the FPSC exams.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2011.
After spending the whole night in the freezing cold in front of parliament house, the plea of Polyclinic Hospital nurses were finally answered by the Ministry of Health. Their termination orders were withdrawn on Saturday.
The government reinstated 36 of the 53 nurses who were terminated from their jobs on January 26 by Polyclinic Hospital Executive Director Dr Shaukat Kiani, before the end of their contractual period and without any prior notice from the administration. The remaining 17 nurses withdrew their names from the contention after they found jobs elsewhere.
The nurses protested against the termination of their jobs by staging a sit-in in front of parliament house on Friday, demanding to be regularised. They remained there till Saturday evening. During this time no official from the Ministry of Health tried to negotiate with them.
Later on Saturday, ex-parliamentarian Mian Muhammad Aslam, Member National Assembly Tariq Fazal Chaudhary and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Amir Mughal joined them.
Eventually Abid Chana, a senior official from the Ministry of Health, Dr Shaukat Kiyani, and Polyclinic Deputy Executive Director Dr Zahid Hussain, came to announce the withdrawal of the termination orders and extensions to their contracts.
“Currently Pakistan is facing a shortage of nurses, therefore to motivate more people towards this profession, there is a need to take care of their rights,” said Dr Kiyani.
He said there are presently 31 vacant posts in Polyclinic for nurses and the remaining five nurses will be adjusted in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences.
The nurses were terminated because they failed their Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) examinations, according to Polyclinic Hospital spokesperson Dr Sharif Astori.
But now that they have been reinstated, Dr Kiyani said he hoped these nurses will pass the FPSC exams.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2011.