Agreement not to reduce salary, including service benefits, if received above the government standard
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An agreement has been reached between the protesting nurses across the country and the Ministry of Health and Population to provide monthly salary facilities to health workers, including nurses working in private hospitals, on par with the government. Ministry of Health spokesperson Dr. Prakash Budhathoki said that a 23-point agreement has been reached in four sections.
According to him, large hospitals and medical colleges have agreed to provide monthly salary facilities to nurses, doctors and health workers on a par with the government since Kartik 1. ‘We will also make the points of the agreement public in detail,’ he said.
Other hospitals have agreed to pay 80 percent of the government salary since Kartik. The Ministry of Health has stated that the agreement was reached with the Nepal Nursing Association, which is leading the movement of nurses across the country.
Some nurses have expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement. Nurses have been demanding service facilities similar to those of the government fifth level. Assistant fifth level nurses working in health services receive a minimum of Rs 34,730. It becomes even higher when grade rates are added to that. However, there are complaints that nurses working in private hospitals have not received even Rs 15,000.
The task force coordinated by the ministry’s Additional Secretary Dr. Shree Krishna Shrestha will work further to fully implement the agreement, said Budhathoki. ‘The task force suggests classifying hospitals and gradually implementing the agreement. We will implement the suggestions after getting a decision from the ministry and the council of ministers,' he said.
He also said that there was an agreement that if the salary and service facilities are higher than the government's, they will not be reduced. 'There is an agreement to decide on issues such as night work and additional allowances based on the suggestions of the task force,' he said. The task force includes representatives from the Home, Labor, Nursing, Medical Council, Medical Education Commission, and others.
Budhathoki said that the agreement reached at the Health Ministry on Saturday will be made public by Sunday evening. Health Minister Dr. Sudha Sharma, Secretary Dr. Bikash Devkota, Task Force Coordinator Dr. Shrestha, Spokesperson Dr. Budhathoki, representatives of the Nepal Nursing Association, private medical college and hospital operators participated in the talks.
