Mass resignation cripples JNIMS

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Apr 10: Amid the fear of a possible COVID-19 second wave, almost all healthcare services at the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) have come to a grinding halt after doctors and nurses submitted mass resignation letters on April 8.
It may be noted that the Teachers’ Association and Trained Nurses’ Association of the institute had submitted mass resignation letters denouncing Government’s failure to implement the 7th ROP.
Employees’ associations of the institute including the TA, TNA and All Non-Teaching Staff (AANTS) have been demanding the Government to implement the 7th ROP for quite some time. The associations had held several talks with the Government and failure to reach an agreement had caused the employees to resign enmasse.
The unprecedented stir of the employees has affected academic, medical emergency and almost all normal healthcare services at the State run hospital.
Even as the stir has caused severe difficulties to the public seeking health-care services, the JNIMS community, meanwhile, held a meeting today and formed a Joint Action Committee (JAC). The employees’ associations have also resolved to intensify their stir under the JAC.
The meeting denounced the Government’s proposal to implement the 7th ROP with effect from April 1, 2020 without any notional effect.
They asserted that the 7th ROP should be implemented notionally from January 1, 2016.
On the other hand, the Indigenous People’s Association of Kangleipak (IPAK) has urged the employees of JNIMS Porompat to resume their duty in public interest and considering the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement issued today, IPAK said the mass resignation of doctors, nurses, teaching and non-teaching staff of the institute are having devastating impacts on the healthcare system and people’s health, specially when a possible surge in Covid cases is looming large.
Urging the doctors and nurses to reconsider their decision and withdraw their resignation letters, IPAK said that even though their demands are legitimate, the medical professionals should keep services to people as the top priority, specially amid the Covid pandemic.
The medical profession is noble and doctors and nurses should perform their services and follow ethics with dedication. At the same time, the Government should take positive steps to grant the demands of the medical professionals, IPAK said. Appealing for an agreement between the agitating medical staff and the Government, IPAK said the Government should give a time-frame to implement the demands of the staff of JNIMS.