Retirees to be brought back to health sector

The government has decided to reinstate employees and retirees who have left the health sector for various reasons, including nurses.

The decision was taken after discussing a paper submitted by Health Minister Abdullah Haleel to the Cabinet on Tuesday. The purpose of his paper was to:

The Cabinet decision was announced at a press conference at the Presidential Office on Tuesday.

Nazim, who served as Health Minister in former President Abdullah Yameen's government, said the cabinet had discussed the paper in depth and taken three main decisions.

“In order to give that opportunity to those who wish to enter the workforce immediately, we should continue to provide jobs to such persons under a special scheme [or] through an expedited recruitment process for the health sector,” he said as a preliminary decision.

"Secondly, introduce flexible working hours and thus provide a wage for those who wish to work less than eight hours, taking into account the time they work, and enable them to go to work under the Maldivian Civil Service rules”.

The third decision, Nazim said, is to bring people who are 55 years old or retired, back into the health sector. He said:

The Ministry of Health will announce further details in the coming days, he said.

Nazim added that the government intends to reinstate those who have served in other important sectors besides the health sector.

“The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to submit a cabinet paper before the end of [the government’s] 14 weeks in consultation with relevant stakeholders to formulate such rules for such important areas and take decisions on that as well,” Nazim said.

Last month, the Ministry of Health announced a study on the government's decision to reinstate health workers who have already served the health sector and left their jobs for various reasons.