Union Budget 2023: Govt announces 157 nursing colleges but what does that mean? Jobs, just wages or teachers remain challenges

‘The minimum wages decided by the Delhi High Court are not being paid at both private and public hospitals. So nurses are quitting, going abroad, leaving one person for 40 beds,’ says Leeladhar Ramchandani, general secretary of the Delhi Nursing Federation.

In her Budget speech on Thursday, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced that 157 new nursing colleges will be established in core locations with the existing 157 medical colleges established since 2014.

Reacting to the announcement, the nursing unions and doctors have said that while this is a positive and welcome move, there should be more job opportunities for trained nurses and they should be getting justified wages. Besides, the existing nursing colleges still do not have equipment and infrastructure for training nurses.

“We welcome the move but those who have completed their nursing degrees should not just roam around without jobs. The government should also provide them jobs and see there are enough placement opportunities.The minimum wages decided by the Delhi High Court are not even being provided to nurses in private hospitals, leave aside government hospitals,” said Leeladhar Ramchandani, general secretary of the Delhi Nursing Federation.

He added that government hospitals, in contravention of laid down norms, just offer Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 as salary to nurses, which is not sustainable, causing many nurses to drop out. That’s the real reason for staff shortage. “If I talk only about Delhi government hospitals, there are a total of 6,500 nursing staff against a requirement of at least 25,000. As per norms, there should be one nurse for six beds but in GB Pant Hospital itself, one nurse takes care of 40 beds. There should be one nurse dedicated to each ICU bed. On night duty, there are hardly two nurses in one ward in GB Pant and Lok Nayak hospitals. How is it possible that the two nurses will take care of the entire ward?” he asked.

Ramchandani said that after 2018, no vacancy had been announced by Delhi Selection Board on regular posts.

According to Dr Ravi Wankhedkar, past president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the setting up of 157 Nursing colleges is a welcome step as there is a huge shortage of qualified nurses in our country, much more than doctors. However, he also said that there is a huge shortage of teachers in nursing colleges which the government needs to look into before
establishing new colleges.

“India has a shortage of around 22,000 nurses and it has been our persistent demand that nurses be hired on a regular basis. On top of it, there is a lack of faculty with no MSc and BSc nurses ready to teach. Nobody wants to teach in India and because of the huge demand from abroad;
nurses just migrate to other countries. How the government tends to address it
remains to be seen,” said Dr Ravi.
Meanwhile, the nursing union heads also raised the issue of nurses leaving for opportunities outside the country. According to Fameer CK of the Nursing Union at AIIMS Delhi, every year a number of nurses move abroad for better employment opportunities. “It is a multi-sectoral approach. The opening of colleges is good but on the other hand there should be a good working environment as well. Many nurses I know have left and many are under the process of leaving,” he added.

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