Tamil Nadu govt to award 19 nurses for selfless contributions; 2,400 new staff to be appointed

CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian met the executives of the Tamil Nadu Government Nurses Association and appreciated them for their key role in the healthcare sector, on account of International Nurses Day falling on Sunday. He announced that the state government would be honouring 19 nurses for their selfless contributions in an event, after the Model Code Conduct was removed from the state.

Listing out meaures undertaken by the state government to improve the welfare of nurses, he pointed out that the nurses selected by the Medical Recruitment Board as contract nurses were not made permanent staff for many years, saying that the current state government has appointed 1,912 contract nurses as permanent staff.

Meanwhile, the appointment of 2,400 new nurses has been approved by the Medical Recruitment Board in the state, the health minister said.

Ma. Subramanian also said that 9,525 nurses have been transferred through transfer counselling sessions by the current state government. "Though the transfer of nurses was uncertain all these years, now transfer counselling has streamlined the process. A total of 9,535 nurses have benefited from the counselling in the last three years."

The health minister added that 2,400 village health nurses would be appointed shortly.

Speaking of the 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam' scheme in the state, Ma. Subramanian said that 10,969 health volunteers have been appointed and made part-time employees. Their incentive amounts have been raised to Rs 5,500, he added.

Highlighting the theme of Nurses Day this year -"Our Nurses, Our Future: The Economic Power of Care", the minister said that the state government has been consistently considering requests from nurses to improve their wellbeing.

"The state government has been fulfilling various demands of nurses since taking charge. More than 90 percent of their requests have been completed. 1,412 contract nurses have been recruited since the DMK government took charge. For those who were already contract nurses with a salary of Rs. 16,000, their salaries were raised to Rs. 18,000," he stated.