After having received several complaints from nurses, the Nurses Welfare Association has written to Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad asking him to look into and take urgent action against those promoting a nurses recruitment racket at the Central Government-run Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital.
“For some time now we have been sensing the presence of a scandalous recruitment racket in the upcoming written test at the hospital. Many nurses from all over the country applied for the position about two years ago for which the written test notification has been received by them recently. The nurses are expecting a fair and just recruitment practice as they were waiting for a long time for this recruitment to take place. Alongside the receipt of the call letter, many nurses got phone calls from persons without their revealing identity, offering a secure job for Rs.5 lakh,” said Association president Usha Krishna Kumar.
She said the Association has been getting complaints from nurses about this. “Also what is worrying is the fact that only those nurses who are to appear for the written test have received such calls which reveals that a group is working with the help of some persons related with the conduct of the recruitment process,” she noted.
The letter addressed to the Union Health Minister also noted that the recruitment arrangement including conduct of written test has been outsourced to a private agency. “We are concerned because this means that qualified and deserving candidates could be cheated despite their good performance and at the same time unqualified persons will enter the nursing service through corrupt means which could be disastrous to the health of patients coming to the hospital,” noted the letter.
“We have now requested the Union Health Minister to intervene in the matter to ensure a genuine recruitment practice. We want the matter investigated to prevent any scandal and also find out if there is involvement of any government official and punish those involved,” said Ms. Kumar.
