Dimapur, April 18 (MExN): The Nagaland State Chapter of the Indian Association of Physiotherapists (IAP) affiliated to World Confederation for Physical Therapy (WCPT) on Sunday placed its ‘long pending demands’ before the State government to be fulfilled at the earliest.
In a press statement, the Association informed about ‘The Commission for Allied and Health Care Professions Act 2021’ which came into force on March 28, 2021.
It stated that the Act defines Physiotherapy as an independent profession where physiotherapists are allowed to practice Physiotherapy independently with minimum qualification of Bachelor degree.
Extending gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan, the IAP Nagaland Chapter also listed salient features of the Act and placed a 9-point demand to the government of Nagaland.
It demanded the recruitment of qualified and adequate number of physiotherapists purely by the Government of Nagaland under Directorate of Health Services from ‘different State hospitals up to Primary Healthcare Centers’.
It also demanded the recruitment of qualified and adequate number of physiotherapists in cancer hospitals, medical colleges and different State sport boards.
Recruitment should be on regular basis and permanent, the Association also demanded. It further sought modification of the State’s physiotherapists recruitment rules, to be upgraded from ‘Group B, Gazetted’ to ‘Group A, Gazetted’ according to the qualification and experience.
It also demanded modification of the pay scale and classification of employees as per ‘ Government of India’ norms and regulations. “Upgrade the pay scale and classification of existing Government physiotherapists working under state government as per Government of India rules on basis of educational cum professional qualification and experience,” it demanded.
Mode of recruitment or selection must be through written examination or through Nagaland Public Service Commission (NPSC), it added.
The IAP Nagaland also demanded that the State physiotherapy selection/interview board must include qualified and eligible physiotherapists in their panel.
It also demanded that at least “one pure government college of physiotherapy must be established under State Government.”
