Tura, Aug 27: Various NGOs and senior citizen bodies from the Garo Hills region have come down heavily on the claims of the Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma over there not being qualified nurses from the Garo Hills region for the recently provided jobs under the National Health Mission (NHM).
Earlier, hundreds of jobs under the centre’s NHM were provided to residents of the state though surprisingly none from the Garo Hills region were considered. The CM in a video message earlier this week had claimed that these were specialized jobs that required a different skill set that those from the Garo Hills region did not have.
Controversially, no advertisements were made and the requirements were fulfilled by the department from the various nursing hospitals from the Khasi Hills region. All of these jobs are based in the Garo Hills region.
This statement has now become a major flashpoint as many organizations have been flooded with complaints about there being enough qualified resources in Garo Hills to make up the numbers.
In a letter to the Chief Minister sent by various organizations like the Garo Graduate’s Union, Senior Citizen’s Forum and the New Tura Development Forum, today, Aug 27, the claims made by the CM were rubbished by these organizations.
Calling the statement unacceptable and intolerable, the organizations asserted that there are more than one candidate qualified in the Garo Hills region who are available with the required qualifications (GNM and BSc Nursing). These candidates, as per them have passed out from various prominent institutions.
“The appointed candidates are all from non Garo communities who do not speak the local language and thus would have a problem in carrying out their duties due to the nature of the work entailed. Further the candidates are also non local to Garo Hills and this would be a hindrance to their regular working,” stated the organizations in their complaint.
Moreover, felt the NGOs, that if it was required, the short course (6 months) for specialization could have been undertaken in the training hall that was available in the TB Hospital in Tura.
“This could have ensured that these posts were available to those in Garo Hills who already have the prior expertise in the field. What is also apparent is that there have been no advertisements posted for these posts and the recruitment was done off hand. This is unacceptable,” felt the organizations.
The NGOs opined that those who have been appointed to the said posts should be postponed until the government issues a clarification on the matter and why those in Garo Hills have been deprived.
“These kinds of appointments will invite communal disharmony in the state and as such need to be clarified to the greatest extent. Until that is done, the appointments should be postponed.
The appointments to the NHM posts were apparently announced last week for mid-level health providers vide order DHSMCH and FW/NHM/MLHP/20/2023/III on Aug 25.