Meeting on July 11 to discuss rehabilitation of nurses: Chandy

He said if anyone has to get credit for their safe return, it should go to the presence of mind and willpower of the nurses

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today informed the assembly that a meeting would be held on July 11 to discuss issues related to rehabilitation of 46 Keralite nurses, who returned after being stranded in violence hit region in Iraq.

The nurses and the institutions that had offered jobs to them have been called for the meeting, Chandy said during a special mention on the issue in the assembly.

"If anyone has to get credit for their safe return, it should go to the presence of mind and willpower of the nurses", Chandy said, adding, it was a united effort of everbody concerned.

The Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the nurses during the crises period and thanked all those who helped the evacuation process.

Speaker G Karthikeyan said the Centre and Kerala governments deserves congratulations for bringing safely the nurses from Iraq by a special Air India flight at Kochi on July 5.

The timely steps taken by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chandy, officials of External Affairs Ministry and Indian Embassy in Iraq needed special mention, he said.

Opposition leader in the assembly V S Achuthanandan said since the rebels who escorted the nurses from the ISIS controlled area to Erbil showed sympathy to them "it is not proper to describe them as terrorists".