Nurses who have been working on a contract basis since 2015 have demanded that the State government implement a Madras High Court order granting them “equal pay for equal work”.
On Wednesday, members of the Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses’ Empowerment Association observed a one-day fast to draw the attention of the government to their demand.
N. Subin, general secretary of the association, said there were nearly 9,000 nurses who were recruited through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) and engaged on a contract basis in 2015. “As per the conditions of our contract, we should have been regularised after two years of service. But the government did not do that. In 2018, the Madras High Court ordered the government to address our issue by granting equal pay for equal work within six months. The government has still not implemented the court order,” he said.
Of the 9,000 nurses, the services of about 1,200 have been regularised. Mr. Subin said the contract nurses were subjected to postings and a work pattern akin to those of permanent nurses, but received only ₹14,000 as salary without any benefits. “Nurses who were appointed on a permanent basis receive ₹40,000-₹42,000 as salary. We have made several representations to the Health Department but to no avail,” he said.
