SHILLONG, July 31: The Meghalaya government has undertaken an initiative to bail out unemployed or underemployed nurses by creating a platform for them to get jobs overseas.
The initiative – Overseas Nursing Job Fair on Friday – entails facilitating interaction with foreign healthcare firms in need of nurses.
Officials said the Health and Family Welfare and the Labour departments are organising the fair at the State Convention Centre at 11:30 am.
The government is collaborating with NAVIS HR Pvt Ltd, NURSEDGE and the New Delhi-based Trained Nurses Association of India (TNAI) to give the candidates an opportunity to work in countries such as Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the UAE. Selection for a candidate would entail support for accommodation during training in India, conditional job offer, upskilling system, and language training for six months in Delhi, Mumbai, or Bengaluru.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma along with Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and Labour Minister Shakliar Warjri are scheduled to attend the job fair.
Lyngdoh told reporters on Monday that more than 1,000 nurses have registered for the overseas job fair. The objective of the event is to open doors for nursing professionals, especially a large number of unemployed nurses in the state, to pursue a career abroad, she said.
“The nurses who did not register online can also attend this job fair,” Lyngdoh said.
She said a few countries are keen on employing or engaging nurses from India. These countries include Japan, the UK, the UAE, and Singapore.
“Nurses ready to work overseas can command a salary of about Rs 1 lakh monthly. But they can get an idea about the pay package once they interact with the foreign firms,” Lyngdoh said. The health minister felt there is a need for the nursing institutions in the state to provide training in language skills.
“We are not merely organising a fair. The government will spend on engaging professionals under the skill development programme,” she said, adding that proper memorandums of understanding would be signed with the companies to ensure the nurses selected for jobs abroad are in safe hands.
