Guwahati: After raising concerns with Meghalaya MP Ricky AJ Syngkon, the Khasi Students’ Union (KSU) has now reached out to Tura MP Saleng A Sangma, urging him to intervene in the ongoing recruitment controversies at NEIGRIHMS.
KSU’s president Lambokstarwell Marngar and general secretary Donald V Thabah led the delegation, outlining four major demands. They called for preferential treatment for local youth in the hiring process at central institutions such as NEIGRIHMS, citing regional representation as a pressing concern.
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Despite NEIGRIHMS Director Nalin Mehta’s denial of any 80:20 recruitment ratio in the nursing sector, Marngar asserted that the Union possesses evidence indicating that similar policies are active in other central medical institutions like AIIMS.
Marngar pressed MP Sangma to advocate for the adoption of a mandatory 80:20 ratio favoring female nurses to improve operational efficiency.
He also asked for the removal of the current eligibility condition that requires nurses to have prior experience in hospitals with a minimum of 50 beds.
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The KSU president criticized the recruitment of male nurses from Rajasthan, pointing out that language barriers between these recruits and patients from rural Meghalaya have caused significant communication problems.
Marngar also condemned the 2023 NEIGRIHMS recruitment process under NORCET, labeling it a “major failure.” He alleged that the institute hired a considerable number of male nurses who lacked adequate training and qualifications.
According to KSU, both MPs—Sangma and Syngkon—have agreed to take up the issue with Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda.
The MPs plan to advocate for immediate reforms in the NEIGRIHMS hiring process and may push to halt recruitment activities if the authorities fail to address the concerns raised by the student body.
Marngar also accused NEIGRIHMS Director Mehta of misleading the public by claiming that the recruitment process followed guidelines laid out by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), a statement KSU disputes.