Gauhati High Court directs early solution to pay disparity among nurses

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court, in a recent order regarding the disparity in grade pay between staff nurses with a B.Sc. degree in nursing and those with a GNM diploma, ruled that the matter can be resolved by considering the Assam Nursing Service Rules, 1991, by the Health and Family Welfare Department and the Finance Department. The departments were directed to finalise the matter at the earliest as the petitioners, the staff nurses with GNM, have been deprived of revised pay.

It should be mentioned here that the staff nurses having a General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) diploma, under the banner of the All Assam Nurses Association, filed a case (WP(C)/2974/2020) before the Gauhati HC, seeking parity of grade pay with the staff nurse having a B.SC degree.

During the hearing of the case, the HC observed that a perusal of the Assam Nursing Service Rules, 1991, clearly indicated that for being appointed as a staff nurse, a B.Sc. degree in nursing or a candidate who passed the PU examination and has undergone a three-year diploma in GNM is required. It was also pointed out that there is no pay disparity in the said Rules of 1991 and that the disparity came into being between the Staff Nurse (B. Sc) and Staff Nurse (GNM) through the Revision of Pay (ROP) Rules of 2017, and only the Staff Nurse (B. Sc) was given the revised pay scale.

The ROP of 2017 with regard to staff nurses having a B.Sc. nursing diploma enhanced the revised pay structure to Pay Band-II, i.e., Rs. 14000-3900 with a grade pay of Rs. 8700. The said ROP Rules of 2017, however, did not consider the case of the petitioners, the nurses holding diplomas (GNM). Accordingly, a disparity in pay between staff nurses with a B.Sc. in Nursing and GNM was created.

The petitioners approached the Anomaly Committee, which resolved that the Health and Family Welfare Department (H&FW) may examine the claim of the petitioners. Thereafter, the H&FW department held a meeting on March 26, 2018 and directed the Director of Health Services (DHS) to submit a proposal to the government and that the government, in turn, would take up the matter with the Finance Department to comply with the demands of the association.

In a communication dated February 1, 2019, the DHS wrote to the Commissioner and Secretary to the Government of Assam, H&FW department, on the subject of the nomenclature of staff nurses and grade pay. In the letter, it was mentioned that the following decisions were taken in the meeting under the chairmanship of the H&FW Minister, Government of Assam, in the presence of the Principal Secretary, H&FW Department: a) The nominee for the entry post of nursing service under the H&FW department will be a staff nurse, irrespective of degree, diploma, etc.; b) There will be one grade pay of Rs. 6800/- per month for the same post and the same work; c) No added or extra increment will be given for any higher qualification.

The file was then placed before the Finance Department for recommendations and Cabinet decisions. But it was observed that the matter had been shuttling between the Health and Family Welfare Department and the Finance Department for a long time. The last communication between the two departments was on September 8, 2022, where it was stated that the H&FW department may take a policy decision with regard to the grade pay of staff nurses and resubmit after due decision and incorporation of the same in the Draft Service Rules.

The Standing Counsel for the H&FW department submitted before the court that the department is in active examination of the Draft Assam Service Rules, 2022, for taking up a policy decision as suggested by the Finance Department.

The court, therefore, directed the H&FW and the Finance Departments to finalize the matter at the earliest and asked the Standing Counsel to bring 'appropriate instructions' on November 17, 2023, the next date fixed.

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