Stipend for capital’s nurses brought on a par with provinces

Paramedics in capital get less than half of what their counterparts get in rest of the country

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has given approval for the summary that proposed equalling the stipend given to regular and student nurses at federal hospitals in Islamabad with the amount given to the nurses in other provinces.

A formal notification in this regard has been issued by the Prime Minister’s Office.

On June 1 this year, the Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for Health Dr Zafar Mirza had announced that the regular and student nurses serving at the federal government hospitals would get similar monthly stipends as that given to their counterparts in healthcare facilities operating under the provincial governments.

As per the notification, the monthly stipend given to student nurses in federal government hospitals will be increased from Rs6,860 to Rs20,000 while the mess allowance given to grade-16 regular nurses at the federal government hospitals would be increased from Rs500 to Rs8,000.

Similarly, the amount given on account of dress allowance to regular nurses will be increased from Rs500 to Rs3,100. According to sources within the Health Ministry, the government expenditures on the stipend of regular and student nurses would increase by an estimated Rs228.547 million a year.

Earlier in May this year, nurses serving at all of the federal government hospitals in Islamabad had staged days-long protests demanding an increase in their monthly allowances. They also emphasised that the nurses serving in the federal capital were not given promotions for the past 25 years while professional allowance of nurses, which stood at Rs10,000 in the provinces, was non-existent in Islamabad.

In other provinces, the mess allowance was Rs11,000 while in Islamabad it stood at only Rs1,100 a month, they lamented, adding that the monthly stipend to student nurses in provinces was Rs20,000 while in Islamabad it was mere Rs6,800. The nurses had warned the government that they would continue with the protest until their demands were not met.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2019.