Put Cabinet’s decision on hold, NPF asks Nagaland government

Dimapur, June 15 (EMN): The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has expressed concern over the imbroglio in the department of Health and Family Welfare caused by the recent decision of the Cabinet to regularise the contractual and contingency medical officers under the department and urged the Nagaland government to put the controversial decision on hold.

The NHM Employees’ Association of Nagaland (Nean) started indefinite strike on June 13 after the state Cabinet decided to regularise the newly-recruited 27 medical officers, alleging that the National Health Mission (NHM) employees have been discriminated against.

In a press communiqué issued on Monday, the NPF claimed that the decision to commission “public servants without following the laid down procedures is a blatant and atrocious disregard for the law governing the land and can only be termed as an act of nepotism”.

While stating that it understands the need for contractual and contingency doctors, the party said “the logical progression to this scenario would have been the extension of their contracts till such time as the government needed their services”.

“Another unpleasant fall-out of this arbitrary Cabinet decision would be the burden on the state exchequer. The salary/emoluments of those contractual workers recruited due to the Covid-19 pandemic could have been borne out of the Covid-19 fund, whereas their regularisation would place an additional burden over a few crores of rupees every year on the state budget, which the government is struggling even to meet the salaries of the existing state government employees,” the press release read.

The NPF has demanded that the cabinet decision to regularise contractual and contingency medical staff be put on hold, saying that recruitment rules “cannot be so patently ignored just taking advantage of the existing pandemic”. It added that the move could set a bad precedent and “force the appointed MOs into a very uncomfortable position if a first class gazette post is given them without following proper appointment procedure and if at all their service is indispensable, proper laid down recruitment procedure should be followed to accommodate them”.

Meanwhile, the NPF has called for recruitment of trained medical personnel as regularised appointees, where necessitated, through Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), and only after undergoing the prescribed probationary period. It said this would ensure that all qualified candidates have an equal opportunity for employment under the state government.

The party has urged the PDA government to expeditiously address the grievances of the NHM employees and break the deadlock so that various healthcare centres across the state start functioning normally again.

Stating that the lives of the people of Nagaland must not be imperiled, the NPF has asked the government to immediately end the issue and work out modalities where the medical professionals can serve the public with dedication and commitment during this health crisis.