Cabinet okays restructuring of posts in Military Nursing Service

The Union Cabinet today approved a proposal for cadre restructuring of the Military Nursing Services (MNS), under which 74 posts of Lt. Col (time scale) will be upgraded to the rank of Lt. Col. (select) and above.

An official press release said there would now be two Major Generals, 18 Brigadiers, 58 Colonels and 157 Colonels (Select) in MNS.

The proposal also includes revision of service criteria in the time scale. Promotion in the non-select rank upto the rank of Lt. Col (time scale) will be: Captain- 3 years (from existing 5 years); Major – 8 years (from existing 12 years) and Lt.Col.(TS) – 16 years (from existing 20 years).

The qualifying service for Lieutenant Colonel (Select) rank by Selection Board has been revised from the existing 18 years to 14 years, the release said.

According to it, the decision will reduce stagnation in the various ranks of MNS by increasing the number of select appointments. It will also help in retaining competent and qualified nursing officers in service by providing adequate opportunities for career progression, it said.

The last cadre review of MNS was carried out in 1986. The authorized strength of MNS cadre is 3860 and there are only 161 select rank posts. There is a steep pyramidal structure at higher select ranks. An MNS officer is able to pick up the select appointment in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel approximately after 26-28 years of service, when she is around 46-48 years of age.

The release said that, on account of limited number of vacancies, arising out of superannuation, there is at present large-scale supersession of many deserving nursing officers (both specialised and non-specialised) in the Promotion Boards for promotion to higher ranks. Apart from causing de-motivation among these nursing officers, non-selection for promotion also leads to many experienced nursing officers seeking premature retirement.

The Government thought it was necessary to improve promotion avenues at all levels to retain such officers and to mitigate their hardship by increasing the number of posts in select grade appointmens within the overall strength of the cadre.

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