Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy today informed the Assembly that a meeting would be held on July 11 to discuss issues related to rehabilitation of 46 Keralite nurses, who returned after being stranded in a violence-hit region in Iraq.
The nurses and the institutions that had offered jobs to them have been called for the meeting, Chandy said during a special mention on the issue in the Assembly.
“If anyone has to get credit for their safe return, it should go to the presence of mind and willpower of the nurses,” Chandy said, adding, it was the result of a united effort by everbody concerned.
The Chief Minister said he was in constant touch with the nurses during the crises period and thanked all those who helped in the evacuation process.
Speaker G Karthikeyan said the Centre and Kerala Governments deserve congratulations for bringing the nurses back safely from Iraq by a special Air India flight on July 5.
The timely steps taken by Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Chandy, officials of the External Affairs Ministry and the Indian Embassy in Iraq needed special mention, he said.
Opposition leader in the Assembly V S Achuthanandan said since the rebels who escorted the nurses from the ISIS controlled area to Erbil showed sympathy to them “it is not proper to describe them as terrorists”.