Nurses to go on indefinite state-wide strike over contractual recruitments

The current agitation resembles a similar strike in May 2022 when the MNSA had opposed contractual recruitment of nurses and succeeded in getting the practice dropped by the government. This time, the association is yet again demanding the recent decision to be cancelled and recruitment to occur on a permanent basis

Mumbai: Thousands of the state’s nurses declared an indefinite strike and suspended services on Thursday demanding that contractual recruitment of nurses be halted, allowances increased, and vacant posts filled to reduce their workload in government hospitals across Maharashtra.

On Thursday, over 25,000 nurses refused to work at the state’s major government hospitals, public health centres and other medical establishments. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo ) (Praful Gangurde)

This strike is a part of a state-wide protest held by the 47 branches of the Maharashtra State Nursing Association (MSNA) against the medical education department’s June 6 decision to hire nurses on a contractual basis.

What began as a two-day strike from 10am to 5pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, with nurses continuing their work at hospitals, has now developed into an indefinite strike. On Thursday, over 25,000 nurses refused to work at the state’s major government hospitals, public health centres and other medical establishments.

The current agitation resembles a similar strike in May 2022 when the MNSA had opposed contractual recruitment of nurses and succeeded in getting the practice dropped by the government. This time, the association is yet again demanding the recent decision to be cancelled and recruitment to occur on a permanent basis.

Sumitra Tote, secretary of MNSA, said that the unreliability of the contractual system forced nurses to take up at least two jobs to earn enough during the pandemic. “We have toiled and have been frontline workers in every situation, but when we are hired on a contractual basis, there is a delay in salary disbursements leading to a financial strain on us,” said Tote.

The association also demanded that salary discrepancies among staff nurses, nursing tutors and staff in charge be resolved, along with an increase in the stipend provided to nursing students, and an increase in the allowances provided to nurses from the government.

Along with a lack of nursing teacher posts in colleges, MNSA highlighted that at least 50% of all nursing staff posts in the state were vacant. Ram Suryawanshi, state treasurer of MNSA, said, “There are only 200 nurses available in a hospital that requires 500 of them.” Suryawanshi added, “Many times, there is a lack of contractual nurses, which puts the workload on permanent nurses leading to a compromise in health care.”

The association also brought up promotions at government hospitals that have been stalled for the past five years. “People have retired waiting for their promotions. We have risked our lives at every stage, we deserve at least the bare minimum,” said Tote.

Hemlata Gajbe, state vice president of MNSA, said, “Since none of these issues have been resolved in so many years, we truly feel neglected. Do we have to protest every time to draw the government’s attention to our issues?” Suryawanshi also added, “These are basic demands we have been putting forward for years, but there has been no action on this.”

MNSA had approached Prakash Abitkar, state minister of public health and family welfare, to discuss their demands, but the meeting was cancelled after a scuffle at the Vidhan Bhavan lobby between BJP legislator Gopichand Padalkar and NCP-SP MLA Jitendra Awhad. Meanwhile, another meeting on Wednesday with Hassan Mushrif, the state minister of medical education, also failed to satisfy the association.

“We are going on an indefinite strike suspending our services in government hospitals all over the state. This will go on until the government fulfills our demands,” said Gajbe. She added that the association also wants pending allowances approved soon, and more than 50 percent of vacant posts to be filled by immediate promotions.

However, at the government-run JJ hospital, the strike called into service the nursing students. Dr Ajay Bhandarwar, dean of JJ Hospital said, “We somehow managed. The routine surgeries and very complicated surgeries could not happen, however, basic surgeries were done. The gazetted nursing staff could not go on strike and they were present to help. This will be our backup plan during the strike.”