Contractual nurses lock Swasthya Bhawan gate, demand preference in permanent jobs

Jaipur: Contractual nurses Wednesday staged a protest outside Swasthya Bhawan, locking its main gate and holding a dharna, prompting heavy police deployment.The protest, called by the Rajasthan Nurses Bharti Sangharsh Samiti, saw nurses demanding that recruitment to permanent posts in government hospitals be done on a merit-cum-bonus marks basis. They also demanded that contractual nurses serving in government hospitals should receive bonus marks and preference in permanent recruitment.Protester Ashish Sharma said that nurses who have worked for years on contract in government medical institutions on low wages deserved weightage in regular recruitment for their experience.The protesters also called the department’s decision to hold recruitment examinations unfair.The main gate of the health directorate remained locked for nearly an hour. The protest ended after police escorted the demonstrators for talks at the chief minister’s office.