NEW DELHI: The Nurses Union of Delhi AIIMS called off their strike on Tuesday night after an around two-hour meeting with the hospital administration, even as the Delhi High Court restrained it from continuing its agitation.
The nursing union said that it took the decision respecting the High Court order.
On Tuesday morning, hundreds of nurses working at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences gathered outside the administration building to continue their indefinite strike over multiple issues with main focus on the 6th Pay Commission.
However, their protest faced a major setback as the High Court interfered in the matter after the hospital had sought legal help to end it. A single-judge Bench of Justice Navin Chawla passed an order after noting that the grievances of the Union were being considered by the authorities.
“Respondent is restrained from continuing with the strike till further orders,” the court ruled. CK Fameer, general secretary of the union earlier said that there was an anomaly in the 6th Pay Commission which denies nursing cadres across the country two increments.
On Monday, the Union Health and Welfare Ministry had to step in and said that non-compliance of the ‘code of conduct’, laid down as per a Delhi High Court judgment, whereby no employee or staff or faculty member will cease work for any reason, will be treated as an offence under the Disaster Management Act.
"The Code of Conduct, inter alia, provides that there should be no cessation of work for any reason whatsoever or the aiding, or abetting of such disruption or cessation. Sincere attempts were being made to dissuade the Union from resorting to strike, especially when the government is dealing with national priority of effectively tackling Covid-19 pandemic," read the order written by Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, H&FW.
What was the protest all about
The nurses’ union’s demanded include correction of an anomaly in the fixation of the pay as per the SCPC, abolishment of gender-based reservation in the recruiting process of nursing officers and contractual appointments, enhancement of hospital accommodation.