THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Three workers of Yuva Morcha were injured while four were arrested after the Secretariat march the BJP’s youth wing took out here in support of the nurses’ strike turned violent on Monday.
The matter escalated after Yuva Morcha workers tried to bypass the barricade at the Secretariat. The police used water cannon to disperse the protesters. Yuva Morcha district secretary Vishnu Dev fractured his leg in the commotion, while Parassala mandalam president Sajith Sooraj and Umesh suffered head injuries. The trio was rushed to the hospital. Kovalam Mandalam president Sandeep, Manoj, Unnikrishnan and Riju were arrested.
Inaugurating the march, Yuva Morcha state president Prakash Babu said the government was colluding with private hospital managements to defeat the nurses’ strike. “While the state’s health sector is facing severe crisis, the government is feigning ignorance to the Centre’s orders and the Supreme Court’s ruling on minimum wages of the nurses. It is trying to sabotage the stir by invoking CrPC Section 144,” Babu said.
“We will resist the attempts to deploy nursing students in hospitals. If the government tries to cheat the 2.5 lakh nurses in the state, the Chief Minister and the Health Minister will be gheraoed on the road,” he said.
Yuva Morcha state general secretary R S Rajiv, Prabhul Krishna, treasurer Sampath,vice-president Aji Thomas, Kollam district president Sanal and others also spoke.