PESHAWAR, Jan 31: The NWFP chief minister has approved a 10 per cent annual raise in the stipend of under-training nurses all over the province, equalizing it to their basic salaries.

The under-training nurses receive Rs1275 monthly stipend which would be equalized to their basic salary of Rs3565, with a 10 per cent increase on annual basis. In addition, the chief minister also upgraded the basic scale of charge nurses from 12 to 14 like that of Punjab and Sindh provinces.

The pay scale of head nurse has also been upgraded from 16 to 17. The chief minister also approved two new vacancies of assistant directress nurses in scale 17 in the administration along with other necessary staff.

The chief minister said that nursing was an extremely important profession which had been neglected in the past.

Due to shortage of the nursing staff in hospitals, the patients, particularly women, were facing numerous problems, he said.

The chief minister ordered carpeting of the Mirkhani Arundo road in the Chitral district on the demand of representatives of the area. The road, measuring 32 kilometres, is situated in Arando, Chitral, bordering Afghanistan and provide a substitute route for the people of Chitral during the winter season when snow covers the Lowari tunnel. —Agencies