The Himachal Pradesh high court has stayed further appointments of assistant staff nurses in the state, observing that the recruitment process is being carried out without any corresponding amendments to the statutory rules governing such appointments.
A division bench comprising chief justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin Chander Negi on Tuesday stated, "Keeping in view the fact that there is no amendment in the rules regarding the engagement of the assistant staff nurses, we are of the considered opinion that this whole process is dehors of any rules and even the pay scales have not been defined."
The bench further directed the state not to issue any further appointment letters and not permit the appointees to join.
The court also took a serious view of an application for exemption from personal appearance moved on behalf of the health secretary, M Sudha Devi, who has been on an official tour to Japan since June 14.
"We are quite surprised that a senior officer is going abroad on a programme for 10 days, whereas the state is cash-strapped. Since she has already left, we have no option but to allow the exemption application and direct her appearance on the next date of hearing," observed the court.
The bench noticed that there were presently 1,535 posts of staff nurses vacant in the department of health and family welfare and the department of medical education and research.
The advocate general informed the court that the state govt had accelerated recruitment of nurses in both departments, and appointment orders had been issued to many candidates.
The court expressed that once the high court was seized of the employees' appointments on outsource basis and the matter had already been taken to the Supreme Court by the state against the high court's interim orders, "the state is further deliberately complicating the issue and muddying the same."
The bench stated that the advocate general's argument that the appointments were based on a policy could not be accepted.
Outsourced Employment
The court also took serious note of the large-scale vacancies and the state govt's dependence on a growing number of outsourced employees in the hill state. While an earlier affidavit had indicated 17,114 outsourced workers in various departments, the latest figures show the number has risen to 26,724. Significant increases were reported in departments including police, health, rural development, agriculture, tourism, and education.
Observing that the state continued to engage personnel through outsourcing despite ongoing litigation, the court directed the govt to file a comprehensive affidavit detailing all outsourced appointments made during the last three years and the number of regular vacancies against these appointments. The matter will next be heard on July 7.
