SHILLONG : Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda has assured the Khasi Students Union (KSU) that a committee will be constituted to examine various policy and legal issues concerning the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), and that no recruitment will take place until the issues are resolved.

KSU general secretary Reuben Najiar, who was part of the delegation that met Nadda in New Delhi on Saturday, said the Union Minister had assured the delegation that the matter would be addressed within a month.

Najiar said the proposed committee would examine issues relating to reservation policies, the Institute of National Importance (INI) status and other legal aspects concerning the functioning of NEIGRIHMS.

“He has assured us that he will set up a committee to look into the various policy matters, including certain legal aspects relating to reservation and other issues. Based on his assurance, he stated that he would try to resolve the matter within a month,” Najiar said.

He further confirmed that Nadda had assured the delegation that recruitment would remain on hold until all the outstanding issues were resolved.

“We have mentioned to him that this issue has been pending for 17 months and that recruitment has not been carried forward, impacting the health sector. However, he has assured us that he will fast-track the matter,” Najiar said.

According to Najiar, the NEIGRIHMS Governing Council had also held a meeting with the institute’s authorities during the previous week, and the Union Minister expressed hope that the outstanding matters would be resolved within a month, allowing the recruitment process to move forward.

In its memorandum submitted to Nadda, the KSU highlighted eight major concerns which, according to the organisation, have adversely affected the functioning and standards of the premier medical institute in the Northeast.

Among its key demands was the restoration of the 80:20 female-to-male reservation ratio for Nursing Officers. The union referred to the 2023 NORCET recruitment, in which 175 of the 194 selected candidates were male nurses. It alleged that several selected candidates lacked adequate experience and that complaints had been raised regarding their competence. The KSU also cited a Central Administrative Tribunal ruling in the case of Ranveer Singh vs Union of India, which upheld 80 per cent female reservation under Article 15(3) of the Constitution.

The union also demanded the removal of the mandatory two-year experience requirement in 50-bedded hospitals for Nursing Officer applicants, arguing that most Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and Community Health Centres (CHCs) in Meghalaya do not have 50 beds, thereby placing local nursing candidates at a disadvantage.

The memorandum further raised concerns over alleged incidents of molestation involving male Nursing Officers, including a case involving a minor girl registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The KSU alleged that the administration had failed to take adequate action against the accused and claimed that some male staff members had even protested inside the campus in their support.

Other demands included restoring the upper age limit for Nursing Officers from 30 to 35 years and for Pharmacists from 27 to 35 years, scrapping the Computer-Based Test (CBT)/NORCET examination conducted through outsourced agency HLL over alleged irregularities and concerns about the lack of examination centres in Meghalaya, removing excess backlog vacancies under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, and correcting the reservation provisions for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Questioning the advertisement of OBC vacancies, the KSU stated in its memorandum that Meghalaya does not recognise any OBC category in the state and questioned the basis on which NEIGRIHMS had advertised posts under this category.

The union also referred to Supreme Court judgments in Bir Singh vs Delhi Jal Board and MCD vs Veena, arguing that migrants cannot claim the SC/ST/OBC status of another state.

Additionally, the KSU urged the Centre to grant NEIGRIHMS the status of an Institute of National Importance (INI), which it said would provide the institute with greater academic and administrative autonomy, similar to AIIMS and PGIMER.

The union expressed hope that the Union Health Ministry would fulfil its assurances and address the outstanding concerns within the promised one-month timeframe.