Tura: 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, under the centre’s NHM, hundreds of residents received jobs, though surprisingly, none from the Garo Hills regions were considered. The CM, in a video message earlier this week, claimed these specialised jobs required a different skill set that those from the Garo Hills region did not have.
Controversially, there were no advertisements, and the department took care of the requirements by hiring from various nursing hospitals in the Khasi Hills region.
This statement has become a major flashpoint as many organisations have received complaints about there being enough qualified resources in Garo Hills to make up the numbers.
The Garo Graduate’s Union, Senior Citizen’s Forum and the New Tura Development Forum, today, Aug 27 rubbished the CM’s claims.
The organisations asserted that there is more than one candidate qualified in the Garo Hills region with the required qualifications (GNM and BSc Nursing). “The appointed candidates are all from non-Garo communities who do not speak the local language and thus would have a problem carrying out their duties due to the nature of the work entailed. Further, the candidates are also non-local to Garo Hills and this could hinder their regular working,” stated the organisations in their complaint.
Moreover, the NGOs said if required, a short course (6 months) for specialisation could have been undertaken in the training hall that was available in the TB Hospital in Tura.
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“This could have ensured that these posts were available to those in Garo Hills with 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,” the organisations added.
The NGOs asked to postpone appointments until the government issues a clarification on the matter and why those in Garo Hills have been deprived.
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