CORRESPONDENT
SHILLONG: The Meghalaya Cabinet on Tuesday took a significant decision to formally confirm and recognize the appointments of 221 bonded nurses and bonded paramedic staff who were recruited between 2008 and 2012 - ending years of uncertainty for employees who had been serving under an unclear service status due to procedural ambiguities. Announcing the decision after chairing the Cabinet meeting, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said the move follows a comprehensive reassessment of earlier positions taken by the government.
Speaking to media persons, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said, "Bonded nurses from the period of 2008 to 2012 were earlier appointed, and there are about 221 of them. There were also paramedic staff who were bonded between the same period. Today in the Cabinet we discussed this in detail. As you may remember, we had earlier decided that all appointments made post-2007, which were not in accordance with procedures and were ad hoc in nature, would be advertised and recruitment would take place for those posts."
He added, "In that process, the bonded nurses were also included in that particular list. However, after detailed discussions with the Health Department, and based on several conversations with the bonded nurses and after reviewing the documentation, we have decided as a Cabinet today that the appointments made during that period followed the required procedures. Hence, the Cabinet has decided to confirm and recognize the appointments of the bonded nurses and bonded paramedics who were appointed between 2008 and 2012."
The Chief Minister further stressed, "Recruitment for those posts will not be conducted, as we have already approved and recognized the appointments that were made during that period, specifically for the bonded nurses and bonded paramedics."
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