Nursing Council employees protest discriminatory treatment

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Nursing Council (PNC) has officially approached Secretary Ministry of National Health Services leveling serious allegations of irregularities against PNC administration where employees hired for a project funded by United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) were regularised without seeking approval of competent authority and in violation of rules and regulations of the Establishment Division, it is learnt.

The acting Registrar PNC, Fouzia Mushtaq, has forwarded official complaint to the Secretary Ministry of National Health Services, Regulation & Coordination bringing glaring violations in running the affairs of the PNC stating that some longstanding issues were affecting the performance and prestige of organisation negatively as UNFPA project which was launched to support the PNC for strengthening of the Midwifery education and this project completed its term on 30-06-2016 but the staff of this project continued to work in the PNC.

Thereafter, a decision was taken in a PNC extraordinary executive committee meeting held on 10-03-2016 that the employees of the project would be absorbed in the PNC. She stated that she was unaware of the agenda of the meeting related to UNFPA employees as it was to be presented by the ex-Registrar who was invited as guest to present this specific item in the meeting. She had come to know of the same just before the start of the meeting.

The recommendations of the ex-Registrar for absorption of project employees were duly approved in this meeting. Consequently, all PNC staff members moved the honourable Islamabad High Court (IHC) against this decision. However this decision was to be reviewed in the next session on May 4, 2016 but the meeting was canceled because of incomplete quorum. This agenda was again brought up for 21st meeting held on Oct 24 and 25, 2016 wherein it was decided that the decision would be withheld and kept pending till verdict of the honorable IHC.

The project has ceased to exist on June 30, 2016 but its employees have not been relieved of their duties in the PNC and were allowed to continue working against all rules and procedures. She also brought into the notice of the Secretary Health Services that when the decision of absorption of employees would be kept pending it was also decided in the same meeting that salary of the employees would be released to them out of regular fund of PNC with arrears for their services rendered after completion of the project. The project employees were then granted salaries with arrears amounting to Rs848,000 from regular fund and cheques were got signed the same day without approval of the minutes in spite of the fact that the accountant PNC and superintendent informed the forum in the presence of president and vice president PNC that the project employees could not be granted salary out of regular fund as per law and reminded them that there were many cases under trial in the IHC.

The Acting Registrar also complained that PNC online registration system which was launched in May 2016 was handled by the project-based employees who were now reluctant to handover this system to PNC staff. Even no documentary evidence was provided by them despite the fact that they were asked to do so.

In a shocking narrative, the acting Registrar also complained that it was observed the project employees were having ‘secret access’ through networking in computerised diary records and they were allegedly changing the records for their own benefit.

Now the newly appointed administrator has renewed services contact of 15 employees under his own signature without bringing it into her knowledge whereas section-10 of PNC Act 1973 delegates all administrative and financial powers to the Registrar PNC.

She has demanded immediate action otherwise the organisation’s reputation will be at stake.

Vice President PNC Suraiya Shahnaz told The News that the case of project employees was pending before the court so they would accept the verdict of the honourable court. When her attention was drawn towards providing salaries to employees, she said that the President PNC Dr Riffat Jan was currently abroad and she is likely to return soon to reply to all queries in this regard.