Health dept calls for action against protesting nurses

Nurses resolve to continue protest till demands are met, term decision to taken action an act of revenge

KARACHI: The protesting nurses of government hospitals announced on Sunday that they would not back down from their demands and would respond fully if the health department followed with their decision to take action against them, which they declared was an act of revenge. The announcement came in the wake of notification issued by the health department, calling for attendance registers in order to take action against the absent nurses.

For the seventh consecutive day, the nurses continued their sit-in at the Karachi Press Club demanding compliance with the service structure, provision of professional health and teaching allowance, increase in salaries of students and promotion of nursing staff to the next grades.



The protesters said that they had the right to protest and were ready to face any kind of retaliation or action by the government. They can do whatever they want but the protest will continue until the notification is issued, they added. They called for immediate approval of the provision of health professional allowances and compliance with the frontier formula.

They said that the health secretary had been trying to placate them with fake promises for the last two and a half years, but now they had changed tactics and wanted to take action against them. Nurses are appointed on Grade 16 and retire on the same. They claimed that no nurse had been upgraded in the past 20 years and thus, they would continue to protest and encircle the Chief Minster House until their demands are met.

The negotiation between the protesting nurses and Karachi commissioner, South deputy commissioner, health secretary and local body government minister was unsuccessful.

The health secretary has issued a notification against the absent staff of all government hospitals.



The notification states that the heads of all government hospitals have been directed to provide details of the staff, who are absent from their duties, along with attendance registers to the office of health secretary. The Sindh government will take action against the absent nurses under the emergency service rules 1973.

The notification stated that the medical staff has been absent from their duty since April 29 and due to the disregard of professional conduct by the nurses, the patients admitted to the hospital were suffering. The week-long protest has affected the provision of medical facilities at the hospitals, it claimed.