He made these comments on 9th April addressing the ceremony held to hand over 1,300 appointment letters to nurses at Temple Trees.

The minister said that currently there are 6,817 students studying at nursing colleges around the country. The government approved cadre for nursing service is 37, 875. But at present, there are only 31, 354 nurses. Out of the approved cadre, 11, 933 have been attached to the hospitals under the Provincial Councils while there are about 6,000 vacancies in the nursing service.

The government has decided to award the Nursing Degree and also create a separate salary scale.  A combined nursing faculty together with the University of Colombo will also be established at the Sri Jayawardhanapura Hospital premises at a cost of Rs. 12,500 million. The foundation stone will be laid in May, the minister added.