Gen Deepak Kapoor Writes Against Mns Officers

Nurse A Habit : outlookindia.com

Arts & Entertainment

WIRES

Books

Business

Page 1 of 3

International

National

Society

Sports

SANJAY DUTT APPOINTED SP GENERAL SECRETARY

National

MAGAZINE | OCT 27, 2008

Elsewhere in Outlook ANDHRA PRADESH

Poll Pickles From NTR Jr's nuisance value to golden lures for voters, from competition for the MIM to doctored video tapes of opposition candidates, from tickets on sale to squabbling allies, it's all heating up in Andhra Pradesh

April-06 2009

VENUGOPAL PILLAI

Regulars

Web | Mar 31, 2009

OPINION RAJINDER PURI

Will This Poll Change India? Making poll forecasts is a hazardous exercise best left to psephologists. Speculating on post-poll politics is even dicier. And yet, the critical phase of transition through which India is passing makes forethought imperative. Four factors suggest that we could be poised for a paradigm shift. Web | Mar 28, 2009

Jitender Gupta No salve: Gen Kapoor

Nurse A Habit Anything to keep rank. Service chiefs now have knives out for allied organisations. SAIKAT DATTA

Glitterati

| E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND - READ |

Polscape

Operation Downgrade


Poll Pourri

Web | Mar 27, 2009

By Vinod Mehta

EXCLUSIVE: ARMED FORCES PAY PARITY

HARYANA, HIMACHAL, PUNJAB CHANDER SUTA DOGRA

If the BJP has the albatross of Varun Gandhi round its neck, the Congress is no less unburdened after having given tickets in Delhi to Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar, accused in the 1984 Sikh riots.

Delhi Diary




Gen Kapoor doesn't want nursing officers to get the same pay and status as army doctors. He feels parity will hit patient care. Nurses may not obey instructions of doctors junior to them. Navy chief Sureesh Mehta wants central police organisations including the coast guard downgraded. Feels the navy is a superior force.

Letters

Previous Issue

***

M

oney can be the great spoiler. The cliche has come to

ELECTIONS 2009 CHANDER SUTA DOGRA

The Dera Vote Bank The Dera Sacha Sauda is once again in the news. Its followers vote as a collective. In February 2007, Punjab assembly election the Dera supported the Congress. Now, the Akalis are desperate to snatch the Dera votes. Radical Sikh organizations are gunning for Baba Gurmeet Ram Rahim Web | Mar 27, 2009

CRIME: SARAVANA BHAVAN

Nemesis On His Platter A restaurateur and his son sully with their crimes a success built with sweat PUSHPA IYENGAR

life all over again as the recommendations of the sixth Pay Commission go through the usual share of debates, arguments and reviews.

"Why must officers who have never served adverse postings get special allowances?"

This is never more so fraught than among the troops, where the desire to corner more money and status has seen at least two service chiefs trying to pull down 'sister' services in a bid to satisfy bruised egos. Leading the pack is

March 30, 2009

Magazine Archive Yearwise 2009 2008 2005 2004 2001 2000 1997 1996

2007 2006 2003 2002 1999 1998 1995

army chief General Deepak Kapoor, who shot off a letter with detailed annexures to cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar on June 20. The chief, instead of focusing on the needs of his men, delved on the need to downgrade the military nursing services (MNS). In his letter, a copy of which is with Outlook, Kapoor argues that the effort of the pay commission to "equate the status of nurses" with "doctors will seriously impact on the functional relationship" between them. He went on to describe the parity as a grave threat to the "command in military hospitals".

Magazine | Apr 06, 2009

FOR THE RECORD JUSTICE D.H. WAGHELA

The Gujarat High

The essence of Kapoor's burden was this: if nurses—who are also commissioned officers— are considered on par with

Click Here For Large Image

Discount Shopping

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081027&fname=Army+chiefs+letters+...

4/2/2009

Nurse A Habit : outlookindia.com

Court Order Cancelling The Bail Of Mayaben Surendrabhai Kodnani '...prima facie, the allegations of inciting or encouraging the mobs into wanton display of hatred, destruction of properties and killing of innocent men, women and children produce a chilling picture of communal violence on an unprecedented scale, leaving on the psyche of ordinary citizens scars which might take decades to fade' Web | Mar 27, 2009

Page 2 of 3

doctors, then it will have Letter against officer nurses serious implications on patient care. In short, a nurse of the same rank as a specialist doctor may not follow the doctor's instructions just because she believes she is of the same rank! As arguments go, this was as specious as they come, leaving an incredulous cabinet secretary to put a "What is this?" remark on the file before forwarding it to the finance ministry. For a hierarchy-conscious service like the army, it is important that the sanctity of ranks is maintained within the service (as well as parity with other government services). However, few in the government are buying the army chief's argument on the nurses-on-par issue. "Have you ever heard of a nurse overruling the diagnosis of a specialist doctor just because she was equal or senior in rank?" asks a senior finance ministry official. "The fact is, all the commission recommended was that if nurses have been given ranks, let them also enjoy the same pay and privileges of their equivalent officers. Why have an institutionalised apartheid among all of them?"

Shoes Online UK Shopping Online Home & Garden Decor Tata Sky Actve STAR News Go Directly To Your Favourite News. Control How & When To Watch News. www.tataskydth.in

Free SME Chat Services An Online channel where you get advice on Small Businesses in India india.smetoolkit.org/expertchat

ELECTIONS '09

Mate Check Trusted allies turn away, making this a poll of glorious uncertainty SABA NAQVI

Magazine | Apr 06, 2009

BANGALORE BYTE SUGATA SRINIVASARAJU

The Patriarchal Presence In the past, there was a mass leader to work at the grassroots, and a more suave operator to network at the national-level: GowdaHegde, Karunanidhi-Maran, Moopanar-Chidambaram... The equations are changing, witness the ongoing tussle between Yeddyruppa and Ananth Kumar Web | Mar 26, 2009

Nature's Beauty, Man's Wrath

Navy chief's letter on the coast guard

But Gen Kapoor seems keen on maintaining the "inferiority" of the nursing officers despite the fact that they serve under the same conditions as army doctors. "The seemingly innocuous correction in the pay scales," argues Kapoor, "will remove the basic difference between the titularity of members of the MNS ranks and the entitled ranks of Service officers". In fact, while several of the services' grievances are legitimate, the army chief's letter has taken the debate in an unwelcome direction. And it isn't an isolated case. Naval chief Sureesh Mehta, in a note dated September 1 (COSC/1940), pointed out that the coast guard and the Central Police Organisations (CPOS) were inferior to the navy and should be treated as such.

Debarshi Dasgupta visits Kandhamal and finds that the wounds from last year's riots are still fresh... DEBARSHI DASGUPTA

Web | Mar 26, 2009

UPA/NDA

A Destructive Dilemma Varun's speech again brings into focus the BJP's lasting dichotomy: vitriol versus canny pragmatism SABA NAQVI

(1 of 2)

| E-MAIL | ONE PAGE FORMAT | FEEDBACK: SEND - READ |

Magazine | Apr 06, 2009 MORE STORIES: SAIKAT DATTA

From The Blogs

ALSO SEE:

Varun Gandhi: When The Babalog Turn Feral

DEFENCE PAY, WAGES, SALARIES

New Launches On Wednesday Cong 138, BJP 127. Market Reforms? Forget It! The Great Debate: Manmohan Singh V/s LK Advani Between India And Pakistan...

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081027&fname=Army+chiefs+letters+...

4/2/2009