Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Nurses Empowerment Association (TNNEA) is set to launch a four-month-long protest campaign highlighting critical issues faced by government nursing professionals across the state. This comes after a recent demonstration in Chennai, where around 250 nurses demanded that the state government address long-standing grievances.
The protests will kick off with a “Meet the People” campaign from September 24 to 30. Key demands include ending low-paid contractual appointments in government medical services, fulfilling the DMK’s election promise to regularise nurses recruited through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) on consolidated pay, ensuring equal pay for equal work in line with a High Court ruling, and withdrawing the government’s appeal against that verdict.
The association highlighted that Tamil Nadu, with a population of over 8 crore, has only 30,000 nurses in government hospitals, of which 17,000 are permanent and 13,000 are on contract. Contract nurses perform the same duties as permanent staff but earn significantly less—₹18,000 per month compared to ₹55,000 for permanent nurses. The DMK had promised to regularise all nurses and abolish contract appointments, but only 3,000 out of 9,000 eligible nurses were regularised in four-and-a-half years. Many contract nurses have been working for eight years on low pay, while newly opened hospitals continue to hire nurses on a contractual basis instead of offering permanent posts.
The association also raised concerns over MRB nurses hired during the COVID-19 pandemic, who were terminated post-pandemic despite High Court orders for reinstatement; 720 nurses are still awaiting appointment.
To press their demands, TNNEA plans a series of actions, including a membership drive from October 1 to 10, sending letters and wearing demand badges on October 14, evening protests in district headquarters on October 28, larger demonstrations on November 30, and a hunger strike on December 18. If demands remain unaddressed, a major protest is planned in Chennai in January or February. The association also intends to meet Ministers, MLAs, and ruling alliance leaders during the upcoming Assembly session to garner support.
