Retirement blues haunt JNIMS staff
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, June 23 2011:
There is growing apprehension that the GPF amount deducted from the monthly salary of around 450 doctors, nurses, para-medical staff and Grade-VI, working in Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) after long years of service in JN Hospital under Directorate of Health Services, Government of Manipur, has not been deposited at the Accountant General (AG).
Talking to The Sangai Express in this connection, some of the doctors working in JNIMS while still under the service of State Health Services pointed out that of the 450 staff, the doctors are not supposed to be employed in the service of JNIMS for more than 3 years.
However, under certain conditions, around 100 doctors, who actually were not eligible for service in JNIMS, have been given the option by the Government to join the service in March-April last year.
These doctors get their monthly salary from JNIMS on the basis of the pay slip provided by the Health Directorate, and the receipt of the amount deducted for GPF, Group Insurance scheme, Leave salary, etc are supposed to be submitted to the AG.
On the other hand, there is as yet no facility for GPF and Pension for the staff of JNIMs who have been appointed through DPC.
Taking note of the matter, some of the doctors who are in service and getting salary from JNIMS approached the AG to find out whether the GPF deducted from their salary is being received or not.
However, they got a rude shock on being informed that there are some confusion over this matter and the names of the doctors of Health Directorate who are working in JNIMS would not be featured in the balance sheet of GPF of the employees to be provided for the year 2010 sometime in July/August this year.
Furthermore, these doctors came to know that the office of the Accountant General does not accept any of the documents submitted from the side of JNIMS as it is an institution run under a society.
Now, with the question of where the amount deducted for GPF from the salary of the doctors and other staff of Directorate of Health Services working in JNIMS has gone remaining uppermost in their minds, some of the doctors, who are due to retire, are wondering whether they would ever get their GPF after retirement.
Besides the issue of GPF, some of the doctors, who have tried their level best in bringing JN Hospital to its present status, have not been able to concentrate on their work foreseeing the complication likely to be created in trying to get their due benefits/payments including pension after retirement from service.
Caught in the web of this confusion and uncertainty, around 100 doctors of Health Services who are working in JNIMS have made known their intention of leaving their present service to come back to the Health Directorate.
It is said that the remaining 350 nurses, paramedical staff and Grade-VI employees have been actually transferred to JNIMS and they would not be able to leave JNIMS.
However, since the Government had failed to spell out the service conditions at JNIMS earlier, this loophole may provide them the room to make the move to leave the institute.
If such a situation arises, wherein around 100 doctors and 350 nurses, para-medical staff and Grade-IV employees leave, the functioning of JNIMS may be crippled due to acute shortage of manpower.