AIIMS nursing staff on strike over promotion, holidays

Bathinda, December 6

Strike by about 600 nursing staff of AIIMS, Bathinda, today crippled the health services in the institute. The nursing staff are demanding promotion and eight holidays every month.

The nursing staff had been on a token strike since November 25 and waiting for the response from the management, which had asked them to wait till December 5. As the management did not pay attention to the demands, they were forced to go on a strike, said the protesting employees.

They claimed that as per the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare guidelines regarding the working days for nursing personnel in all central government hospitals, each nurse is entitled to 96 days off in a year — eight days off in a month and three national holidays or three additional days off in lieu of the national holidays.

But in AIIMS, Bathinda, the management is not implementing these guidelines, they alleged. Due to the strike, the work in the OPD and the IPD was affected.

While routine check-up was done by doctors in the OPD, the indoor patients faced difficulties, claimed the authorities in AIIMS. The management said junior doctors and nursing students had been appointed in place of the nursing staff.

“We have not stopped working in emergency but if our demands are not met, we will stop the services also,” said the protesting staff.

The management claimed that the the recruitment of nursing officers came under the Mission Recruitment Policy formulated by the Government of India.

The institute followed the guidelines set by the government for the recruitment and any demand related to recruitment was beyond the authority of the institute.

Dr Rajiv Gupta, Medical Superintendent, AIIMS, Bathinda, said the recruitment of nursing officers came under the Mission Recruitment Policy formulated by the Government of India. Some clauses of this policy had already been challenged by the nursing employees in the courts and the final verdict was yet to come.

Waiting the court decision, he has requested all protesting members to cooperate.