Nurses resign en masse in WB

Rattled by the resignation of 354 nurses and their return to their home states for ‘lucrative’ offers in the last few days in Kolkata amid the Covid-19 pandemic, forum of private hospitals, Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI), has urged West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to appeal to other state governments to disallow any further exodus.

On May 14, 185 nurses hailing from Manipur quit their jobs and left for home after their transportation and transit passes were arranged by their state government. On Saturday 169 more, including nurses from Tripura, Odisha and Jharkhand, left.

AHEI vice president Rupak Barua told West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha in a letter, ‘Although the exact reason behind why they are leaving is not known, we have gathered from other nurses still on duty that the state government of Manipur is offering them lucrative stipends to return home.”

“We have also come to know that even more nurses from states like Tripura, Odisha, and Kerala are also planning to go back home. This adds to our apprehension that many more will leave by the end of this month, or in early June, as lockdown restrictions are further relaxed and travel is allowed,” he said.

He added, ‘This will not only severely disrupt our services but could also lead to a collapse of the private healthcare delivery machinery in Kolkata, at a time when we are already reeling under the ongoing crisis of Covid-19. As you are aware, private hospitals in Kolkata already suffer from a shortage of nursing staff. An exodus of nurses under the present circumstances will leave us in a calamitous situation.”