look news india
As the rumor of formation of the 8th Central Pay Commission by the Central Government increases, various employee organizations have opened a front to remove the pay discrepancies of their respective cadres. In this sequence, nursing officers serving in central government hospitals, AIIMS, railway hospitals and ESIC across the country have presented a detailed proposal of their 10-point major demands before the government. The All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF) has told the government in clear words that whatever has been ignored in the previous pay commissions with the nursing cadre working on the frontline risking their lives in every emergency situation, from the Covid-19 pandemic, should be completely rectified in the 8th Pay Commission.
The most prominent demand in the Nursing Federation’s proposal is regarding the entry level salary i.e. the initial grade pay of Nursing Officer. At present, under the 7th Pay Commission, Nursing Officers have been placed in Level-7 (4600 Grade Pay).
Nurses Association says that their minimum educational qualification is B.Sc Nursing (4 years) or GNM with experience, which is equivalent to any technical and gazetted officer. Therefore the initial post of Nursing Officer can be filled directly Level-8 (Grade Pay 4800) Or Level-9 (Grade Pay 5400) Must be upgraded to. Along with this, a strong demand has also been made to reorganize the pay scale of the posts of Senior Nursing Officer and Chief Nursing Officer, which were stuck for many decades, in a time bound manner.
During 24×7 emergency services in hospitals, nurses have to work non-stop during the night. The Federation has argued before the government that continuous night shifts have a deep adverse effect on the physical and mental health of the nursing staff.
The night duty allowance currently provided is nominal, which does not match the real challenges. The organization has demanded that:
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A solid and practical uniform for the night shift central staff Night Duty Allowance (NDA) Let it be decided.
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This should be added on the basis of percentage of basic pay, so that there can be a fair increase in allowance with seniority.
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Special risk and hardship allowance should also be provided to nursing personnel working in difficult conditions and in ICU, burn wards and infectious diseases wards.
Underlining the experiences of the Corona period, the Nurses Federation has included the demand for workplace safety and comprehensive health insurance among its priorities. Despite being often exposed to serious infections, needle stick injuries and direct exposure to deadly viruses, nursing staff do not have any dedicated safety cover.
The organization has demanded from the government that for every working nursing employee at least Comprehensive health insurance and life cover of Rs 50 lakh Must be implemented at government expense. Along with this, the demand for safe working environment, adequate deployment of security guards and implementation of strict legal security mechanism has been reiterated to deal with violent incidents and misconduct while on duty in hospitals.
A long standing pain in the nursing cadre is the lack of career promotion (Career Stagnation). In many states and central hospitals, nursing officers are forced to work in the same post for 15 to 20 years without any promotion.
To remove this discrepancy, the Nurses Federation has demanded from the 8th Pay Commission that:
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By reducing the existing 10, 20 and 30 year intervals of Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP). 8, 16 and 24 years Let’s do.
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Even if there are no vacancies in the department, the next functional designation should be automatically provided along with financial benefits on completion of time.
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The cadre of top posts of nursing administration like Additional Director of Nursing and Nursing Advisor should be strengthened at the level of the Health Ministry, so that policy decisions related to the nursing sector can be taken on time.
Currently, Nursing Allowance and Uniform Allowance are given in the form of fixed amount, due to which its actual purchasing power decreases when inflation increases. The federation has demanded that whenever Dearness Allowance (DA) crosses 50 per cent, Nursing Allowance and Dress Maintenance Allowance should also be proportionately increased automatically by 25 per cent.
Raising the issue of unbalanced nurse-to-patient ratio in hospitals, the organization has also warned that health services are being affected due to heavy workload. Therefore, along with the recommendations of the new Pay Commission, the regular recruitment process on thousands of vacant permanent posts should be started immediately. This demand letter before the 8th Pay Commission to be constituted by the Central Government can play a decisive role in deciding the salary and service conditions of nursing employees in the coming times.