Nurses denied promotions as babus sleep on files

Times of India: Nagpur: Monday, 27 October 2014.

Nurses in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) have been waiting for promotion for five years. This has happened because the performance reports on the basis of which promotions take place have not been sent to the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) by the hospital authorities in time.

In the absence of appraisals and the absence of a seniority list, time bound promotions have also not taken place. This fact came to the fore when a few nurses due for promotions questioned DMER officials who told them about the missing reports. "We are told to fill up and submit these reports regularly. However, they are not being sent to the DMER. There are some whose promotions are due for five years, others who have retired while waiting for promotions that would have given them some retirement benefits," said Tanuja Ghormare, working president of Vidarbha Nurses' Association, who is also on the body of the Maharashtra Government Vidarbha Nurses' Federation (MGVNF). Nurses are also miffed about the fact that their salaries are almost always given 15-20 days late, she added.

Vice-president of MGVNF and a retired GMCH nurse, Yashodhara Moon, said, "There are some whose papers have been sent but they have still not been promoted. The system is made up of people who are waiting to be 'rewarded' with bribes to do what is part of their job. This has happened earlier this year when we filed an RTI under which we got to know that several nurses had been transferred from hospitals in Vidarbha to those in western Maharashtra."

Though the acting dean Dr A Niswade claimed no knowledge of the issue, sources in the hospital have acknowledged that reports were held back during the tenure of former dean Dr Rajaram Powar. They also say that Dr Niswade had a detailed discussion on the issue with the nurses in a meeting recently. He has set the ball rolling for promotions. However, due to the elections and certain administrative difficulties including transfer of the clerks handling them, the files are still with the hospital. It is expected, though, that the matter would now be resolved soon.