Hyderabad: Contract nurses seek regular jobs

Hyderabad: Contract and outsourcing nurses working for more than 15 years in government hospitals urge the State government to regularize their services. They said there are 865 vacant nursing positions in Telangana.

"It would have helped us had the government provided 20% weightage to all of us working on a contract basis for more than 15 years now. Almost at the end of life, we have to face job loss as the new graduates taken over the positions," according to them.

Speaking about their difficulties, Indira, a nurse at Gandhi Hospital, says, "I have been working in Gandhi Hospital as an outsourcing nurse for the past 15 years. But, now I have lost all the faith. As we have not been given 20% weightage in recruitment, I have failedthe exam by three marks. If the weightage was considered that would have helped us better. I cannot even think of taking the nextexam as I will not be eligible because of my age. All the efforts and waiting and the service which we have given in hard times is not counted and it's disappointing. Without any other option, we got to leave the job whenever they ask us to and have no job security even after working for Telangana government hospital for 15 long years."

Even the High Court upheld 20% weightage marks in recruitment exam for contract nurses. Hundreds of contract nurses are being rendered jobless today as the government recruiting fresh graduates in the vacant posts with 25K salary and the contract nurses are still paid 15k to 18K even after decades of services, she rued.

"Around 3,311 positions were notified in 2017 for recruitment test in March 2018 and after announcing the merit list and results, the government recruited the fresh graduates in 2,418 vacancies and 893 are leftover due to the failure of the candidates to meet the merit criteria. If the government considered outsourcing nurses for 20% weightage at least 100 to 200 of uswould have got permanent jobs. We request government to consider the nurses who have provided their services for the past 15 years in the vacant positions, " said Sarala, another Gandhi Hospital nurse.

"We have been working for 10 years as contract nurses and the higher authority has promised to regularize our positions but they always find a new excuse to deny us our due. We also appeared for the examination.They promised us 20% weightage marks but did not keep it. We are very disappointed. We are nowhere even after working for more than a decade for government," says M Geetha.