THE JHARKHAND STORY DESK
New Delhi, Nov 28: The Delhi High Court sought the Central government’s and the city government’s stand on Tuesday on a petition that contested the rules limiting admission to B.Sc. (Hons.) Nursing programs at AIIMS, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and Delhi University to female applicants only.
Delhi HC seeks Centre’s, Delhi govt’s response
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Mini Pushkarna has issued a notice in response to a public interest litigation filed by the Indian Professional Nurses Association. The bench has sought responses from governments, institutes, and the Indian Nursing Council within a four-week period.
Also Read: Light rain forecast in isolated parts of Jharkhand today
PIL cites shortage of nurses in India
Representing the petitioner, attorney Robin Raju stated that the petition contested the country’s gender-based eligibility policy and that applicants of all genders ought to be allowed to enroll in the course given the scarcity of nurses in the nation.
The plea said, “Nursing is a profession that has evolved with time and today numerous private nursing colleges across the country is providing opportunity to persons of all genders to pursue nursing courses. The healthcare sector of the country is facing shortage of Nurses and it is therefore important to open the doors of nursing profession to all genders”.
Also Read: SC rejects DMK’s Senthil Balaji’s bail plea
PIL alleges arbitrary discrimination
The petition contends that restricting the opportunity to pursue the B.Sc (H) nursing course in leading and affordable nursing colleges in Delhi to only females is unjust and goes against democratic principles, fairness and equality.
“The practice of considering only female candidates eligible for admission to B.Sc(H) Nursing Course is manifestly arbitrary and does not meet the standard of reasonable nexus to object sought to be achieved and reasonale classification based on intelligible differentia imposed by Article 14”, the plea stated.
“The classification created only entitles female candidates to a specific B.Sc. (H) Nursing course on the basis of a rule that does not consider the present day realities. The rule completely discards the fact that there is a dearth of nursing professionals in the country and hence prohibiting non-female candidates from getting admission to B.Sc (H) Nursing course is also against the interest of the public at large,” the petition added.
Next hearing on Feb 19
The next hearing date for the matter is set for February 19.
