HC issues notice to Delhi govt, Nursing Council on plea seeking voting rights for nurses

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Nursing Council (DNC) and government on a petition seeking voting rights for all nurses registered with the DNC for electing their office bearers and executive committee.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the Delhi Nursing Council (DNC) and government on a petition seeking voting rights for all nurses registered with the DNC for electing their office bearers and executive committee. The Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh sought responses from all the respondents and slated the matter for December 13, 2021, for further hearing.

The petitioner, the Indian Professional Nurses Association (IPNA) NGO, seeks direction to DNC and Delhi government through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to publish the annual income and expenditure of the DNC on its website.

Advocate Robin Raju appearing for the petitioner stated that there is a dire need to bring suitable amendments in the Delhi Nursing Council Act, 1997, so that the existing arbitrary and non-democratic process of nominating members to the nursing council comes to an end.

The plea filed through Advocate Joel Joseph stated that about 90,000 nurses registered with Delhi Nursing Council have no right to elect the representatives of a body that has been constituted, inter-alia, to work for their welfare.

The plea alleged that there is a lack of financial transparency in the functioning of the DNC. The respondent has not even published on its website the audited summary of its income and expenditure, it said. "The denial of voting rights to nurses is nothing but sheer disregard of the fact that other professionals such as doctors, advocates and chartered accountant," the plea stated.

"Nurses are at the core of medical treatment and it is important to alleviate the genuine concerns faced by these angels and denial of the right to elect representatives to the body that has been constituted for their welfare is not fitting for a country like ours which takes pride in its democratic ideals and structure," plea further added.

The Delhi Nursing Council is a statutory body that was constituted by The Delhi Nursing Council Act, 1997 and the body is supervised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of NCT of Delhi.

ANI