Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 12 May: For more than 30 hours, unemployed nursing candidates have been staging a dramatic protest by climbing atop the water tank at Parade Ground here while their colleagues sit on dharna nearby. In solidarity, Jyoti Rautela, president of Uttarakhand Mahila Congress, has also joined them on the tank and refused to come down. Braving sun and rain, the agitators remain firm on their demands and have declared that they will not retreat until the government addresses their grievances.
On International Nurses Day, the protesting candidates expressed disappointment, saying that while they received greetings and messages on their phones, they were in no position to accept them under such circumstances. In addition, PCC Chief Ganesh Godiyal and senior Congress leader Harak Singh Rawat also reached the dharna site today and expressed solidarity with the protesters.
Naval Pundir, President of Nursing Ekta Manch, alleged that the administration is behaving in a dictatorial manner by preventing food and water from being sent to those sitting atop the tank. He said that a meeting with the state’s Director General of Health (DG Health) is scheduled for later today, and if no positive outcome emerges the agitation would be intensified. He remarked that International Nurses Day is meaningful only for those who have already secured employment, while for the unemployed nursing candidates it remains a black day. He stressed that nurses hold a special place in society and that the government should mark the occasion by granting year-wise appointments as a gift to the protesting aspirants.
Madhuri Uniyal, one of the protestors, said that despite receiving numerous messages of greetings on Nurses Day, she could not accept them in the prevailing situation. She pointed out that she had been sitting on dharna for 159 days demanding year-wise appointments, yet the government has failed to resolve the issue. She warned that, if the demands are not met, the agitation would continue with greater intensity. The nursing candidates reiterated that their struggle is not just for employment but for dignity and recognition of their rightful place in society.
