Maharashtra nurses call off strike as govt assures to look into their demands

The nurses have threatened to go back and strike if their demands are not fulfilled by the Maharashtra government by July 15.

MUMBAI: Close to 20,000 nurses in Maharashtra’s state-run hospitals, including 1,400 in Mumbai, called off their indefinite strike on Wednesday afternoon after the government assured them that it will look into their demands by July 15, said the Maharashtra State Nurses Association (MSNA)

Close to 20,000 nurses in Maharashtra’s state-run hospitals had been on an indefinite strike since May 28. (PTI)

MSNA has been demanding that the Directorate of Medical Research and Education (DMER) withdraw its decision to outsource recruitment to 1,700 odd vacant posts on contract, which the latter had rejected, calling it a ‘temporary arrangement’.

“We met medical education minister Amit Deshmukh who agreed to look into our demands by July 15. We have decided to resume work. If our demands are not fulfilled by July 15, we will go back and strike,” said Sumitra Tote, secretary, MSNA.

An official from DMER said Deshmukh has appointed the dean of Vilasrao Deshmukh Government Medical College and Hospital, Latur, as the nodal officer to look into the demands of the nurses. “We are glad that the nurses have taken back the protest,” said Dr Deelip Mhaisekar, director, DMER.

While the state government had accepted one of their demands to scrap mandatory transfers, outsourcing the recruitment of contractual nurses to an external agency was the major bone of contention.

Since May 25, the nurses have been boycotting work for an hour between 7.30am and 8.30am. Later, they went on a two-day strike boycotting emergency services. The protesting nurses in Mumbai gathered at Azad Maidan between 10 am and 5pm on May 26-27.