In a significant ruling, the Uttarakhand High Court has prohibited nursing officers, previously appointed under a one-time settlement scheme, from participating in current recruitment processes.
The decision was made after a division bench of Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal heard several petitions related to the recruitment of nursing officers in the state’s medical colleges.
The petitions, filed by individuals including Naval Kishore and Anita Bhandari, raised concerns that the Uttarakhand government’s one-time settlement scheme in 2022, intended to fill nursing officer positions based on seniority, was being circumvented. In 2023, the Department of Health and Family Welfare announced the appointment of 1,564 nursing officers, also based on seniority.
Controversy arose when the Department of Medical Education advertised 1,455 new positions on March 11, 2024. It was discovered that some officers who had already been appointed through the 2023 scheme had applied for these new positions, leading to potential redundancy and unfair advantage.
Following the arguments, the high court decided to bar those candidates who had already benefited from the previous settlement from re-entering the recruitment process.
This decision seeks to promote fairness and create opportunities for hundreds of unemployed nursing degree holders, ensuring that the recruitment process is equitable and advantageous for new applicants.
