Staff Reporter
DIMAPUR, JUNE 29
Around 400 staff nurses and nursing sisters across Nagaland on Monday participated in the mass casual leave protest called by the Nagaland Staff Nurse Association (NSNA) to register their angst against reported “discrimination and irregularities pertaining to promotional avenues and other entitlements” to members of the nursing community by their departmental superiors over the years.
Leaders of the NSNA branch of Dimapur informed reporters that the approximate count of participants on the first day of the nurses’ protest call for three days mass casual leave stood at least 400 members from all the districts of the state.
The agitating nurses were optimistic that the state government would relay “a green signal” soon. At the eventuality of the state government failing to respond within the three days, they said that the members were ready for an indefinite period of mass leave.
In Dimapur, alternative arrangements by health authorities ensured that the district hospital would not suffer from shortage of nurses on the first day of the agitation.
The Chief Medical Officer of District Hospital Dimapur, Dr MA Wati said that “alternative arrangements” in the form of “existing contractual nurses under NHM” were deployed at the hospital to even out the shortage.
While informing that there have been no complaints thus far from any quarters, the CMO said that “if needed” other NHM nurses working in outposts could also be called in “depending on the requirement.” He however reiterated there was no need for such a step as of now.
According to the Nursing Superintendent of District Hospital Dimapur, Hisule Keppen Khing, 40 nurses – 35 staff nurses and 5 nursing sisters – of the district hospital had availed leave from work today to participate in the protest.
She informed that besides the 8 NHM nurses, 70 students from the Nursing Institute along with 10 teaching staff and another 7 from the CMO were called in to perform the nursing duties in the absence of the protesting staff.
She however expressed doubts as to whether this kind of arrangement could sustain beyond some few days.
