Shillong Oct 27: Citing the need to protect patient privacy, dignity and access to gender-sensitive healthcare, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia & Garo People (FKJGP) has urged NEIGRIHMS to adopt an 80:20 female-to-male ratio in the recruitment of Nursing Officers.
In a representation submitted to Health Commissioner and Secretary and NEIGRIHMS Governing Council member Dr. Joram Beda, FKJGP president Dundee Cliff Khongsit expressed concern that the institute’s recruitment pattern could undermine the availability of gender-sensitive nursing services, particularly in wards catering to women and children.
Khongsit pointed to the last major Nursing Officer recruitment drive, in which 194 posts were advertised and 174 selected candidates were male, accounting for nearly 90% of the intake. According to the Federation, such a recruitment pattern risks further widening gender disparities in nursing services.
The FKJGP stated that NEIGRIHMS currently has 549 Nursing Officers, comprising 317 women, or 57.7%, and 232 men, or 42.3%. It argued that the existing workforce composition has created staffing challenges in departments such as Obstetrics and Gynaecology (O&G), labour rooms, female wards, paediatric wards, the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
The organisation stressed that adequate female nursing staff are essential in certain healthcare settings to ensure patients receive care with appropriate regard for their privacy, dignity and comfort.
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To support its demand, the Federation cited other major healthcare institutions, including AIIMS, JIPMER, PGI, ESIC hospitals and CNCI Kolkata, which it said have adopted an 80:20 female-to-male recruitment model.
The FKJGP also warned that the impending retirement of experienced female nurses who joined the institute between 2006 and 2008 could further aggravate the staffing imbalance if corrective measures are not introduced.
“The present nursing workforce has caused serious staffing imbalances and may affect the reputation of the institute when gender-sensitive nursing care issues are not met,” Khongsit stated.
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The Federation has called for urgent intervention by the NEIGRIHMS Governing Council to recommend a gender-balanced recruitment framework approved by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
It maintained that adopting the proposed ratio would help to address staffing gaps in sensitive departments and strengthen the institute’s commitment to quality healthcare while safeguarding the privacy and dignity of patients.
