CHENNAI: Nurses who staged a protest for the second day at the DMS campus here on Tuesday continued their demonstration despite talks with Health Minister C Vijaya Basker at the Secretariat.
After the talks, the delegation said they would withdraw the protest temporarily as the health minister assured to consider 90 percent of their demands. The nurses also assured that they would resume work from Wednesday.
But protesters at the DMS campus continued their protest till late evening. “The officials called only 10 nurses and threatened them. We are not going to accept that. We will continue until our main demand to regularise our services is met,” said a protester.
Speaking to reporters after the talks, the minister said, “We assured them that 90 percent of their demands will be considered. They are happy with it and are withdrawing the protest.”
On regularisation of services, the minister said, the process will be taken up in phases and soon over 200 nurses who have over five years of service will be regularised.
Vijaya Basker also said 12,000 nurses were recruited under National Health Mission temporarily and were getting paid as per the Central Government recommended salary. Nowhere in the country were the services of nurses recruited under NHM regularised. Tamil Nadu is the only State considering their demand.
The government had issued show cause notice on Monday to nurses asking them to resume work immediately or else risk service termination.
Over 2,000 nurses staged the protest at DMS campus to highlight various demands.