CHENNAI: The Southern Paramedical Technicians Welfare Association has urged the Tamil Nadu State government to offer government jobs to paramedical students in general hospitals across the State.Shanmuga Sundaram, representative of the Southern Paramedical Technicians Welfare Association, said, “We want the State government to provide government jobs for us and also upgrade the paramedical course.” In view of the growth in the Indian Medical industry, the paramedical technicians in the State have expressed concerns over the inability of the government to provide jobs to them in government hospitals and primary health care centres.After years of suffering, the students came up with a list of demands to be fulfilled by the government ranging from job offers in government hospitals and upgrades of the course to stipends and much more.“Unlike those studying in private institutions, we don’t get jobs in private hospitals or even abroad as they insist on diploma or degree holders for the same course, said another representative.The government hasn’t provided a stipend for paramedical students during their internship training.They are not even allowed to register with the medical council after the completion of their course, making it difficult for them to find jobs in the medical industry. “When the government can provide hostel facilities and stipends to nursing students during training, why can’t they provide it to us?” he said.In 2005, the AIADMK government introduced the paramedical course with an assurance of government jobs for all students.But, when the DMK government came to power in 2006, the course was scrapped due to political reasons and re-introduced in 2007.Moreover, the male and female nursing assistants with 10 years experience were trained for six months instead of a year and hired during the previous regime to fill the vacancies, when there are around 3,000 paramedical students in the State without jobs. So far, only 20 students from across the State have been provided jobs in the Salem Government Multi-Specialty hospital. “A candidate should have undergone training for a year before they are hired for the post of paramedical technician.But the government failed to meet the criteria,” Shanmuga noted.Even when it comes to admissions, the process is very slow. Every year the application forms of the course are distributed only in the month of September.The counselling begins in January and the course starts in February putting the students through a lot of hardship.“The course starts only in February every year, by the time all other colleges would have completed two semesters. It is a waste of time and doesn’t allow us to apply for other courses, complained Shanmuga.“We have submitted a memorandum seeking to fulfill our demands and even organised protests to highlight our problems during the previous regime, but all our efforts went futile.At least now, we expect the present government to look into the matter and take necessary steps to meet our demands,” he explained.
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