| The President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil presenting the National Florence Nightingale Nurses Award 2012 to S Hoikholhing, on the occasion of International Nurses Day, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on May 12, 2012.
President Honours Meritorious Nurses on International Nurses Day |
| The President of India, Her Excellency Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil today presented National Florence Nightingale Nurses Awards 2012 to 36 meritorious nursing personnel on the occasion of International Nurses Day. This year for the first time the Florence Nightingale Awards were given posthumously to two nurses, namely Late Vineetha P.K. and Late Remya Rajappan from Kerala who sacrificed their lives to save patients under their care during the AMRI hospital fire incident on 9th December, 2011 in Kolkata. Late Vineetha P.K.’s father and Late Remya Rajappan’s mother accepted the award from the President at a solemn ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan this forenoon.Acknowledging the great contribution of nursing to health care, the President said that Nurses are the frontline providers of medical assistance and information. “You are crucial for providing medical care. Nursing is not only a profession and a career. It is service to humanity” Smt Patil said. She added that while we have achieved successes in the health sector, like increase in life expectancy and eradication of some endemic diseases, “it is still work in progress”. With the population of over 1.2 billion, we have much work ahead to achieve our goal of health for all, she noted. She particularly exhorted more male nurses to take up the noble service of nursing.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad said that it is a matter of great honour and encouragement that President makes it a point to confer the awards every year at Rashtrapati Bhawan to honour meritorious services rendered by the nursing professionals working with devotion, sincerity, and dedication. “The award, consisting of Rs. 50,000/- cash prize, certificate and medal, is a rare honour in recognition of selfless hard work, commitment and extra-ordinary perseverance in the course of performance of duties by the nurses”, Shri Azad added. He said the role of nurses, midwives and lady health visitors in prevention of disease and health promotion activities cannot be under estimated. Recognizing their significant contributions in improving the healthcare system of our country, the Minister recounted the steps taken to strengthen the nursing sector. He stated that to give a boost to nursing education, during the last two years, the MoHFW has sanctioned 269 ANM and GNM Schools across the country, particularly in the un-served and under-served districts. “These schools will train an additional 20,000 nurses every year. Six nursing colleges are also being established at the new AIIMS and these will be functional next year”, he elaborated. The Ministry has also decided to provide financial assistance for upgrading all nursing schools into Colleges of Nursing attached to Government Medical Colleges. Further to increase the number of Nurses and teaching faculty, the student patient ratio has been changed from 1:5 to 1:3; Age of retirement for nursing teaching faculty has been raised to 70 years and Admission to married candidates has been allowed in nursing courses.
The names of the awardees who were bestowed with the National Florence Nightingale Awards 2012 are Naw Lachu Ahtee, Bonam Esther Hemanalini, Kum Chalana J. Rathod, Sunita R. Dhonde, Harbans Batra, Agrawal Dinesh Satish Kumar, Suresh Kumari, Rehana Akhter, Aruna Kumari Sinha, Basamma T. Hanchinal, Radhamani P.G., V.G. Padmini, Sujata P. Lokhande, Usha Dinkar Talele, Lourembam Kamala Devi, S. Hoikholhing, Udasi Sahu, Sheela, R. Geetha, Petsy R. Massey, R. Sakila, Sanjoy Saha, Subrata Das, Bhawani Dev, Sujatha Surendran, Daisy Mathews, Jayasri Maiti, Lalita Jana, Brig. Tshering Khendo Bhutia, Satwant Kaur, D. Padmavathy, Sudarsa K, Jayakumari C H and Suresh T.P. Extending the vote of thanks Shri S Gandhiselvan, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare noted that the exceptional contributions displayed by the meritorious winners will become the driving forces for the new generation. |
