Urges LG to revoke termination order of nurses by GMC Kathua
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP) President Altaf Bukhari on Monday urged the J&K government not to snatch livelihood of paramedical staff at a time when they were needed the most as front line respondents to fight battle against deadly coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir. Reacting sharply to disengagement of junior staff nurses by Government Medical College Kathua, who were recruited by the government under SRO-24 in January last year, Bukhari urged the Lieutenant Governor (LG) GC Murmu to personally intervene into the matter and order immediate revocation of the termination order. The JKAP President observed that most of the terminated staff nurses were lone breadwinners for their families. “Instead of snatching their livelihood, these nurses should be allowed to continue their work. If the government is unable to provide jobs to laks of our qualified unemployed youth, at least, it should not create more joblessness by disengaging the already adjusted professional people,” Bukhari said. He said the disengagement of paramedical staff would have devastating effects on their families who have put in all their resources and barely managed to give professional trainings to their children. Bukhari censured the J&K Health Services Department for not allowing the already selected medical assistants in Kashmir to join their duties for “frivolous reasons.” “It is ironical that when the whole world is offering well paid jobs to healthcare professionals in this hour of pandemic, the department of health services in Kashmir is not allowing 42 medical assistants selected by J&K Service Selection Board to join their duties for trivial reasons,” Bukhari said, while appealing the LG to intervene into the matter and get the matter resolved. “To fight the coronavirus, we need to have a robust healthcare system and adequate manpower. When the healthcare system in J&K is already running on crutches, the disengagement of paramedical staff means putting the lives of people at stake,” he remarked. Bukhari reiterated his demand for fast-track recruitment process of doctors and paramedics in Jammu and Kashmir, in view of coronavirus pandemic. He said the situation that emerged after COVID-19 outbreak has overburdened the medical fraternity of J&K, and emergency recruitment of medicos was need of the hour. He urged J&K UT administration to rise to challenges posed by COVID-19 and immediately recruit more technical assistants, nurses, medical officers, medical assistants, theater assistants, X-ray and laboratory technicians and F/MPHWs on walk-in recruitment basis.
