Allowances of Sindh’s nurses increased

Staff of grades 16 and 17 to now be paid on par

with their colleagues in other provinces

Giving in to the demands of the nursing staff of Sindh’s public hospitals, the provincial government has increased the allowances of working nurses of grades 16 and 17, bringing them on a par with other provinces.

The Young Nurses Association (YNA) Sindh’s members had staged a three-day sit-in outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) this February, demanding better working conditions and increase in salaries and allowances. They said that compared to their colleagues in other provinces, they were underpaid.

A notification issued on Wednesday by Finance Secretary Syed Hassan Naqvi stated that the grade-16 nurses’ uniform allowance was increased from Rs600 to Rs3,100, mess allowance from Rs300 to Rs8,000 and nursing allowance from Rs6,000 to Rs10,000.

Similarly, the grade-17 nurses’ uniform allowance was increased from Rs600 to Rs2,100, mess allowance from Rs300 to Rs6,500 and nursing allowance from Rs4,000 to Rs10,000.

YNA Sindh President Aijaz Kaleri welcomed the notification and hoped that the other demands of the nurses would also be accepted in the coming days.

He claimed that the stipend for nursing students had been increased from Rs6,800 to Rs15,000 and expressed hope that a relevant notification would be issued soon.

He said the Sindh government had also approved the service structure of the nursing staff, adding that most of their demands had been accepted. “The nurses are thankful to the health minister and secretary as well as the chief minister for their cooperation.”

On February 9 the nurses staging a sit-in outside the KPC had ended their demonstration after receiving assurances that their issues would be resolved.

The protesters had boycotted health services for three days against non-payment of allowances like other provinces, poor service structure, years-long delay in promotions and pitiable working conditions.

The Karachi deputy mayor and representatives of the Sindh Health Department assured the demonstrating nurses from public hospitals across the province as well as Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) health facilities in the city that their demands would be met in phases.

Hundreds of surgeries were postponed in three days due to the boycott, as patients with urgent medical needs were directed to private facilities, while in many instances doctors, technicians and nursing aides filled in for the absent nurses.

According to Health Secretary Dr Fazlullah Pechuho, a committee comprising health department officials and two representatives of the nursing community was formed to sort out the issues and suggest remedies.

Deputy Mayor Arshad Vohra also visited the camp of the protesters along with the KMC Health Services senior director and assured the nurses that all their demands would be resolved, reminding them that they were the “backbone of the health system in Karachi like elsewhere in the country”.

He said a committee headed by the senior director as well as representatives of the nurses would be formed and they would present their recommendations to the mayor, adding that the provincial government would also be consulted to resolve the financial issues of the KMC-run hospitals.

Kaleri, who led a six-member delegation to talk to Dr Pechuho, applauded the health department for listening to their demands and giving them verbal and written assurances of resolving them.

“Obviously, these issues for whose resolution we are struggling for the past one year can’t be cleared in a day or two, so we agreed to give them time to sort things out and meet our demands in steps.”

He said the health secretary and his team agreed that the nurses should be promoted and the service structure improved and they should be paid allowances as per their service structure.

“On the assurances of the health secretary and formation of a committee, we decided to call off our protest and sit-in and to resume our jobs.”

He also lauded Vohra for visiting them at the protesters’ camp and assuring them of resolving their issues, expressing hope that all the promises of the KMC authorities would be fulfilled.