CHENNAI: The Trained Nurses Association of India have filed a petition in the Supreme Court over rampant exploitation of nurses bordering on human rights violation. The PIL charges that nurses are being treated like bonded labourers and paid a pittance.
The Tamil Nadu branch secretary of the association, Chellammal Mariappan, told Express that it filed the PIL after receiving representations from across the
country. “We have been getting complaints about salary disparity among the hospitals. Also, there is no fixed working hours, nor do they get benefits akin to nurses in government service,” she said. The apex body recently asked the centre to set up an expert committee to look into grievances pertaining to work conditions of nurses in private hospitals and private nursing homes across the country.
Dr S Ani Grace Kalaimathi, Registrar (FAC) of Tamil Nadu Nurses and Midwives Council welcomed the move, pointing out that the nurses in the country have long been fighting for such a monitoring system.
Boomi Nathan, president of Government Trained and Training Nurses Association said there is a pressing need for a legislation that would lay down guidelines to monitor hospitals. With no minimum salary in the private sector and lack of opportunities in the government hospitals, these paramedical professionals have no option but to go abroad, he added. However, nurses are also exploited abroad.
Take the case of Ranjani (name changed). She is the eldest among six children in an agrarian family in a village in Tiruttani. Her parents had high hopes after her diploma in nursing. When she joined a leading private hospital in Chennai, all she was paid was a paltry `5,000, which left her precious little to send back home.
“They paid me only `5,000 a month, but I could not quit. The hospital took my original certificates and made me sign a bond undertaking that I would work there for two years. If I were to walk out before end of the bond period, I would have had to pay a huge amount,” she recalled, preferring anonymity.
As her younger siblings including four sisters were dependent on her for their education, she had no choice but to continue working there. Once the period was over, she said, the desperation made her look at opportunities in distant lands where the language and culture were foreign to her.
“When I went to Saudi Arabia, there was a language barrier, rules were strict and I had no acquaintances. But I needed money to support my family, and the hospital in Saudi Arabia paid me much better,” she said.
This is not an isolated case. “I came out of the bond after paying the hospital a huge amount because of the work pressure, poor salary and long working hours,” said another nurse, who is now working at a different hospital in Chennai.
