Nagaland govt promises change in service rule amid nurse stir

As the agitation of nurses entered the second day today in Nagaland, the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare said it was working towards amending the Nurse's Service Rule of 1988 to accommodate their demands.
The 3-day mass casual leave, which is the second phase of the agitation of Nagaland Staff Nurses Association (NSNA) and Nursing Sisters without Degree and Diploma, began yesterday.
The Commissioner and Secretary of Health and Family Welfare M Patton told reporters "the 1988 service rule is a disadvantage for the general nursing staff as they cannot get promotion unless they undergo three months training on different subject for every promotion and therefore the department has recommended for doing away with such rules in the new amendment."

Expressing that the entire process of amendment is time- consuming as it has to undergo several stages before being approved in the state Assembly, Patton appealed to the agitating nurses to withdraw their stir, else the government would be forced to take hard decision.
On the impact of the agitation in the state, Patton said that arrangements had been made through various services such as the National Health Mission, NSACS, ANM, GNM Degree/Diploma holders and for that the health services were not being affected.