Contract nurses stage protest for regularization and stipend

KARACHI: The Sindh Public Service Commission (SPSC) written test passed contract nurses recently staged a protest demonstration demanding job regularization and the payment of three months’ worth of stipend.

The SPSC written test passed 2382 nurses, who were hired by the Sindh Health Department for a period of 89 days on a contractual basis as front line workers to fight against the COVID-19, staged a protest demonstration and marched towards the Chief Minister House where law enforcement agencies stopped them from entering the red zone.

The protesting nurses were hired for COVID-19 emergency duties but have not been paid their due stipends since joining. The protesters said that nurses were working day and night in the Intensive Care Units and High Dependency Units across the province without proper safety kits.

Dozens of contract nurses and their family members have tested positive for COVID-19. The Sindh government failed to regularize the nurses on their posts or pay them their due stipends for three months.

They demanded the regularization of contract nurses on the patron of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the payments of three months’ stipend.

-MN Report