DHARAMSHALA: Honourable Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay today expressed his gratitude to the Indian Nursing Council (INC) for deciding that Tibetan nurses can practice in India.
In a statement today, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay said, “ I want to thank the government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Health and the Indian Nursing Council for taking into consideration the status of Tibetan nurses and deciding favourably for their employment in India.”
“Particularly, I want to thank Mr Keshav Desiraju, the Secretary of Health, and the officials whom I had met and explained about the situation, for their kind and timely intervention in this matter,” Sikyong said. (Click Here)
“Through the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in New Delhi, all the relevant offices were informed about the situation of Tibetan nurses for their kind information,” he said.
The Indian Nursing Council in a circular issued on 29 January 2014 announced that Tibetan nurses would be allowed to register and practice their profession in India.
The circular stated that “the issue of admission and taking up the profession of nursing for livelihood by Tibetan refugees in the country has been engaging the attention of the council, keeping in view the provisions of the Indian Nursing Council Act 1947.
“The issue of citizenship of Tibetan refugees born in India has been clarified by the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi in W.P. (C) 12179/2009 has held that Tibetan nurses born in India have to be taken as Indian citizens.”
“It has now been decided by Indian Nursing Council for the purposes of Indian Nursing council Act and be allowed to register after verifying the birth certificate,” the INC announcement said.
The announcement came after repeated appeals by the Central Tibetan Administration to resolve the problems faced by Tibetan nurses in view of an earlier circular issued last year by the INC, barring Tibetan nurses from working in India. The earlier INC circular stated that nurses of foreign nationalities including Tibetan refugees cannot practice their profession in India. (Read earlier report by Tibet.net )
