Altogether 45 nurses from Meghalaya have landed jobs in Japan and Singapore following the Overseas Nursing Job Fair organised by the state government last year.

Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma, who is on a visit to Japan, shared the details of the placements on Monday, hoping more such opportunities would open up for nurses from the state in other parts of the world.

Of the 45 nurses, 27 have been placed in Japan and 18 in Singapore. In a video message from Tokyo, Sangma said the efforts put in by his government have started yielding results after a year, hoping more nurses who wished to work abroad avail the opportunity. He also posted pictures with two of the nurses who got placed at a hospital in Kobe, Japan.

After the fair held in Shillong in August last year, the government funded the training of the nurses. Those who got placed in Japan were trained at the NAVIS in Bengaluru “for language training and cultural immersion”. Over 1200 nurses had attended the fair.

NAVIS is an ISO 9001:2015 accredited human resources company with offices in Bengaluru and Japan. The government initiative is part of a broader effort to provide employment opportunities to nurses and to enhance their professional skills, an official statement said.

As part of the “Skills Meghalaya” scheme, the state government will support 300 nurses in the coming years through the Meghalaya State Skill Development Society (MSSDS). ₹50,000 has been earmarked for the training of each selected nurse.

There is a demand for nurses/caregivers in Japan because of its ageing population. The pay for nurses is anywhere between ₹40,000 to one lakh, sources said.

The MSSDS and the state health and family welfare department are collaborating with potential firms to provide language training and job placement opportunities.

Four firms, including NAVIS, have been identified as sending organizations for the trained nurses.
“An MoU was signed with these firms on December 7, 2023, to facilitate language training and job placements in countries such as Japan, the UK, Singapore and the UAE,” the statement said.