Doctors in Nagaland upset over non-payment of salary; department says it’s under process

Our Correspondent
Kohima, Oct. 9 (EMN): Doctors and nurses, who were recruited last year amid shortage of healthcare workers in the state due to the Covid-19 outbreak, are said to have not received their salaries for months.

An aggrieved doctor told Eastern Mirror that they were recruited in November last year to assist other medical personnel in combating Covid-19 in the state. He added that the last time they received salary was in June.

He maintained that owing to the prolonged non-payment of salary, some of their “colleagues have resigned to join the private sector and for further studies”.

He informed that they were unable to prepare for NEET PG or NPSC exams as they had been assigned for Covid-19 duty and vaccination drives. “Some of the doctors are doing 18 hours duty,” he added.

“We have sacrificed our careers and lives to serve the public and this is how the government repays us,” he sighed.

“The government advertisement states that we, those who join for Covid duty, will be given a chance to write an exam under special recruitment NPSC,” he said. However, “it’s almost a year and still no news about the promise of the government,” he added.

Meanwhile, a source informed this newspaper that the department had asked the chief medical officer (CMO) of various districts to furnish the list of healthcare workers, both doctors and nurses, who were performing their duties (as there are possibilities of some leaving the job), along with other details like bank passbook front page, Aadhaar card etc. in hard copies, as soft copies are not legal for financial matters.

The source added that the directorate had informed that districts like Dimapur, Zunheboto and Mon had not furnished such details in hard copies by September 30, and this might have caused the delay in the payment of salaries.

Speaking to this newspaper, Principal Director of Health and Family Welfare department, Dr. Neikhrielie Khimiao, informed that the amount had been sanctioned to the department, which needs to be authenticated by the Treasury and Finance departments, following which the salary will be dispersed.

He assured that the matter would be cleared in the ‘next one or two days and payment of salary would be done’.