Chennai: Female nurses from Nilgiris and Thiruvallur districts have approached the Madras high court to quash an order issued by the Health and Family Welfare department in so far as it changes uniform for female nurses served below 10 years is concerned and consequently direct the authorities to give option to them to wear half sleeve Chudidhar top and white bottom as a uniform.
Justice R.Mahadevan before whom the petition filed by D.C.Indira from Nilgiris District and Shahila Begam from Thiruvallur district came up for hearing, ordered notice to the state government and the Committee for Change of Uniform.
Petitioner’s counsel R.Saseetharan submitted that after continuous demand made by the nurses, who pursued their Diploma and Degree from the private medical institutions, they were considered and appointed as Nurse in Government hospital and primary health centres by the selection made by the medical services recruitment board in the year 2015. The uniform prescribed for Nurses is Pinofore which is in vogue in time immemorial and the said uniform leads the minds of the public to believe that the persons who were such uniform is the Nurse engaged in health services to cure others and the said uniform will not cause any discrimination between the nurses. While so, the government by an order dated December 7, 2018 accepted the recommendation of Committee for change of uniform and prescribed different kinds of uniform between the nurses, in the place of Pinofore, he added.
Saseetharan said the government had divided four categories of female nurses based on their years of service. The nurses who put in below 10 years service in majority, studied from private medication institutions and appointed only from the year 2015. Therefore, the government cannot prescribe dress code only on the basis of service rendered. Under the first category of nurses i.e., service up to 10 years, all age group nurses were working. For example, the first petitioner was running 54 years but appointed in government service only in 2015 and she rendered below 10 years service. The second petitioner running 39 years and she was also appointed in 2015 only. Therefore, it was unreasonable to expect that the two female nurses aged 54 and 39 respectively, to wear white shirt and pant as uniform in the place of pinafore by way of change, he added.
