Fight goes on for junior primary health nurses

KOCHI: Hundreds of junior primary health nurses (JPHN) are on a day-and-night stir in front of the Directorate of Health Services (DHS) in Thiruvananthapuram for their rights, including promotions, which have been frozen by the authorities. 

Mary Joseph, state secretary of the Kerala Government Junior Public Health Nurse and Supervisors’ Union, says the state government has frozen the tutor promotion order. “The government is turning a blind eye towards the violation of our rights. We will not stop our fight until it reinstates our promotion order to become tutors. Many of us had to wait around 30 years to become eligible for the post of tutors and those eligible are on the verge of retirement. Their rights are being denied,” she says. 

According to her, the authorities should immediately amend the Special Rules and fill the DPHN and MCH vacancies. “The authorities should sanction our promotion and withdraw the decision of the PSC chairman making high qualifications mandatory to fill the vacancy of junior public health nurse,” says  Mary. 

She says the authorities hasn’t taken any steps to implement the High Court’s direction to include public health nurses in the state evaluation team. “We have raised these issues umpteen times in the past. But nothing came out of it.”