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A nursing officer at AIIMS Delhi suspended, due to a staffing shortage
According to a senior official at AIIMS, four nursing staff members, including Kajla, were served show cause notices for incident, and action has been taken against him based on his response and the testimonies of other doctors and nurses who were present during the demonstration.
A nursing officer at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, was suspended after a group of nurses protested a personnel shortage in the main operation theatre, causing at least 50 surgeries to be cancelled.
Harish Kumar Kajla, a nursing officer, was suspended with “immediate effect” for leading the demonstrations and misbehaving with the duty officer. “…Disciplinary proceedings are contemplated against Harish Kumar Kajla, nursing officer…during the period that this order shall remain in force the headquarters (of Kajla) should be New Delhi and (he) shall not leave the headquarters…,” the order read.
According to a senior official at AIIMS, four nursing staff members, including Kajla, were served show cause notices for the incident, and action has been taken against him based on his response and the testimonies of other doctors and nurses who were present during the demonstration. The AIIMS resident doctors’ group, which was calling for Kajla’s suspension since the incident, stated that this “one-off situation” should not be regarded as a doctor-nurse spat.
The AIIMS Nurses’ Union decided to break off its indefinite strike on, hours after the Delhi High Court ordered it to ensure that its members returned to work immediately and said that the nurses “must place the interest of patients above and beyond” their dispute with the administration.
The hospital’s nursing staff went on an indefinite strike in response to the suspension of Harish Kajla, the president of the AIIMS Nurses’ Union. The nurses’ union has urged that Kajla’s suspension be lifted immediately. Earlier in the day, Justice Yashwant Varma, who was hearing the petition filed by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), stated that while the union’s right to advocate for its members’ causes is identified, it must consider the “deleterious impact” that the strike call would have on medical institutions as well as patients awaiting emergency surgery and care.
The AIIMS has submitted through attorney Satya Ranjan Swain that the strike is not in the public interest and is also illegal because the respondent’s grievances are baseless, and after careful review, the AIIMS management has suspended the respondent’s president. The AIIMS is at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19, treating Covid patients on a regular basis in addition to its regular patient load. According to the AIIMS, the respondent’s strike severely impedes the Petitioner’s ability to do its tasks.