NEW DELHI: IN a relief to the nurses of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital who have been opposing the Centre’s order of re-designating two key nursing posts into one, the hospital administration on Monday retracted its June 30 decision based on which it downgraded the post of a Deputy Nursing Superintendent (DNS) to a lower designation.
The move came after this newspaper broke the story about the order and prominently highlighted the plight of the affected nurses. Meanwhile, sources in the Union Health Ministry said that reconsideration of the order is being taken up internally. “It’s being reviewed currently. The nurses have also represented their side. A decision is under process,” a senior government official told this newspaper.
On Monday, the authorities cancelled that order with “immediate effect.” The hospital is one of the four Centre-run health facilities where the Centre had asked to implement its order to merge the post of DNS with the ANS.
According to the order, the ministry has dissolved the post of DNS at four Centre-run hospitals, Safdarjung, Ram Manohar Lohia, Lady Hardinge and Kalawati Saran. The post merged them with the Assistant Nursing Superintendent (ANS), which downgraded 40 nursing professionals to a rank lower than their position.
The nursing professionals questioned the decision, saying it is against the government’s own norms and will adversely affect the hierarchy. They also highlighted that the responsibilities entailing the posts cannot be clubbed posts-merger. Meanwhile, the city government has called a joint meeting on Tuesday to formulate a plan against the Centre’s move as other Central hospitals plan to implement it, sources said.
Order,disorder
The ministry has dissolved the post of Deputy Nursing Superintendents at four Centre-run hospitals. The post merged them with Assistant Nursing Superintendent, downgrading 40 of them to a rank lower