On strike: Govt-nurses negotiations remain inconclusive

Sit-ins across the Punjab halt surgeries, doctors called to fill in for nurses.

LAHORE:

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique and Health Director General Dr Zahid Pervaiz on Saturday offered ad hoc nurses three-year contracts but the nurses refused. The negotiations had not yielded an agreement till the filing of this report.

Meanwhile, nurses all over the Punjab boycotted duties to express solidarity with the ad hoc nurses who had been baton charged by the police on Friday.

Many surgeries had to be postponed due to the non-availability of nurses. Doctors had to fill in for nurses at many hospitals.

Dr Amir Bandesha of Punjab Institute of Cardiology said, “Several operations that had been scheduled for today (Saturday) could not be performed. Doctors have been trying to fill in for the nurses but this arrangement cannot last for long. They [doctors] are already overburdened and will probably collapse if nurses do not resume their duties soon.”

The ad hoc nurses continued their sit-in in front of the Punjab Assembly. The Mall was blocked for traffic from Hall Road to Charing Cross.

“We are here to get our rights. Many of us have been serving for years on an ad hoc basis but have been terminated with a stroke of the pen. We demand that our services be regularised,” said Nasreen, a nurse at the sit-in.

The issue

Contracts of 2,800 ad hoc nurses have not been renewed. The chief minister has been sent a summary for the regularisation of 810 nurses working on a contract basis. The Health Department has also sent a requisition to the Public Service Commission for recruitment of 1,450 nurses.

“The department has devised a job structure for the nurses and plans to recruit 12,000 nurses in several phases through the Punjab Public Service Commission. We told the 2,800 nurses at the sit-in that they could sit exams to get regular jobs. We also offered 10 extra marks for experience but they did not accept the offer. We have to recruit nurses through the PPSC on merit otherwise other government employees serving on ad hoc basis will also demand to be regularised,” a Health Department official explained.

YDA support

The Young Doctors’ Association held a general council meeting on Saturday and urged the government to resolve the issue at the earliest. “The nurses’ demands are justified and should be accepted. Doctors cannot run hospitals without nurses. The government should realise that. We condemn the government for not paying heed to their legitimate demands,” Dr Javaid Aheer, the YDA president, said.

Across the Punjab

Hundreds of nurses gathered at the main gate of the Allied Hospital and staged a demonstration against “police atrocity against nurses”.

Amina Raees, one of the protesters, told media persons that nurses in Lahore had only sought their rights but the police had played “a wicked role and subjected the poor nurses to severe baton charge”.

In Bahawalpur, hundreds of nurses staged a protest demonstration in front of Bahwal Victoria Hospital and blocked the Circular Road for traffic. They carried sticks and chanted slogans against the government. They demanded the immediate arrest and dismissal of the policemen responsible for injuring the nurses. The sit-in continued till the filing of this report.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2014.