KOCHI: Catholic-management hospitals have been instructed to disburse government-recommended salaries to nurses, said Archbishop M Soosa Pakiam highlighting the political resolution passed at the 30th general assembly of the Kerala Regional Latin Catholic Council (KRLCC) which concluded in Kochi on Sunday.
The archbishop expressed concern over the practical difficulties faced by hospitals in the rural sector, but said the Latin Catholic Church considered the nurses’ agitation for decent salaries as just.
Referring to the liquor policy, the prelate who is also KRLCC president, said the LDF did not keep their promise made during elections. ‘’CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechuri said closed bars would not be opened but the government changed its stance once it came to power,” he said. “The Church will react to this when the right time comes.’’
Dalit Christian students should be allotted seats in school and colleges if there are no takers for SC/ST seats. There is a long-pending demand to include Dalit Christians in the SC list and there should be a special recruitment to rectify their lost chances.
Fishermen are in a financial fix as the prices of fishing gear have increased after the GST was implemented. The right of local bodies to grant permission for construction should be restored, the bishop said.
The office bearers for next the three years were elected at the annual general council. Archdiocese of Verapoly Shaji George was elected vice president, while Antony Albert from the Archdiocese of Thiruvananthapuram and Smitha Bijoy from the diocese of Vijayapuram were elected secretaries. Antony Noronha from Kannur diocese is the new treasurer. Soosa Pakiam administered the oath of office to the new office bearers.
Collector’s order
Kozhikode District Collector U V Jose has directed the Health department to utilise the service of post graduate medical students in various government hospitals to cater to the emergency situation due to the ongoing strike by a section of nurses in private hospitals in the district. The collector has informed that the administration would intervene and extend help to private hospitals if the managements demand.