MOHFW comes in support of DGHS Chief Dr Arun Goel over alleged report on insensitive remark on Nurses

New Delhi: Calling the recent news report regarding an alleged 'insensitive remark' to nurses, made by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Chief Dr Atul Goel, 'misleading', the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has extended its strong support towards Dr Goel.

This comes after the Ministry received a complaint in this regard from the All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF). The Federation complained to the Health Ministry over the alleged controversial statement made by Dr Goel regarding the representation of requests by the nurses' group, reports Economics Times.

The concerned report indicated that with the alleged remark, Dr Goel had showed a lack of empathy towards the nursing profession. However, the Ministry has supported the DGHS Chief and issuing a statement to the press, it has clarified that the report was an exaggeration.

Currently, the three technical positions relating to the nursing domain in Dte GHS include Nursing Advisor, ADG (Nursing), Dy Asst DG (Nursing) and Deputy Nursing Advisor.

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As per the latest media report by Economic Times, in the concerned news report, it had been mentioned that Dr Goel had allegedly said in an email that he has "much more to look after than meddling in nursing affairs." After that he refers to the fact that he will be glad giving away the senior posts to the MoHFW and has much more to look after regarding technical issues.

Now extending its support to the DGHS Chief, the Union Health Ministry emphasized on the fact that Dte GHS is extremely sensitive towards the nursing profession and wishes to see it achieve its rightful place in the medical profession.

The Statement of the Union Ministry read, “A section of nurses, it appears, are not satisfied with four technical nursing posts being operated by Dte GHS and want these posts to be transferred to the Ministry. The email referred to in the news report is DGHS’s response to these Nursing Associations. The representation in this regard received in the Directorate was clearly acknowledged. Moreover, DGHS firmly believes that his Directorate is an integral part of the Ministry and works with the Nursing Programme Division of the Ministry to solve all the problems of nurses.”

However, the Ministry has denied entertaining the demands of the nursing associations that technical posts coming under the purview of the Dte GHS get transferred to the Ministry.

Elaborating on the three technical positions regarding the nursing domain, the statement from the Ministry further stated, “For all health matters, including nursing matters, the Directorate General of Health Services (headed by DGHS) performs the function of a technical repository and provides specialised domain-specific technical inputs to the ministry. In health, including nursing matters, policy decisions and their programmatic implementation is the responsibility of the MoHFW. This division of work leads to a harmonious relationship between Dte GHS and the Ministry.”

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