Having been terminated from their jobs, contractual nursing officers of Safdarjung hospital, New Delhi, sat outside the residence of Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, demanding to be re-appointed.
The protestors were raising their voices against the fact that they had been terminated so that they could be replaced by permanent staff. They also protested against the fact that they were being rendered jobless even though there were enough vacancies to accommodate them. The total number of vacancies is about 3000 whereas the number of permanent staff being hired is only 1278.
The future looks rather bleak for these nursing officers, who have crossed the age limit for appearing for exams that could have helped them get other government jobs. Most of them belong to the 30 to 50 age bracket.
Some of these nursing officers were given contractual jobs despite their high rank in the national level exams.
The protestors were joined out the health minister’s house by the contractual nursing officers of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Lady Harding as well as Kalawati Hospital. They intend to carry on protesting till they are reappointed.
Despite heavy security, some of them managed to enter the residence. But they harbour little hope of anything being done in their favour since they did not get a chance to interact with the minister. They were asked to speak to his assistant and seek an appointment.
