Pay woes: Nurses plan hunger strike

Protesting disparity in the pay scales of nurses, Delhi Nursing Union (DNU) will start a four-day long relay hunger strike from Monday followed by boycott of OPD and ward services from January 24. 

According to the DNU officials, if the government fails to address their demands after the strike, from February 24 to February 27 nurses of all central and state government hospitals will disrupt OPD and ward services for two hours (9am to 11am). If that too fails, the nurses plan to take mass casual leave on March 3 followed by indefinite strike from March 5. 

The nurses say that the Sixth Pay Commission's recommendation has created huge gap in pay scales of nursing professionals. "A nurse with 10 or more years of experience is drawing less salary than those who have joined in 2006. The pay commission has upgraded the scale of nurses, but the government is not fixing our pay as per the recommendation. They are giving us the grade pay that is introduced this time on our old scales,'' said S K Khurana, general secretary of DNU. 

The union has approached various government agencies to address the issue, but all in vain, said officials. The DNU in a meeting on February 10, 2009 at Sucheta Kriplani Hospital, decided to intensify efforts to draw the government's attention to the disparity.

The nurses feel new recommendation has almost dissolve the rank structure. "We still have assistant nursing superintendent and deputy nursing superintendent, but there is no difference in the pay scale. Earlier there was a difference of Rs 1,000 in the salary of ANS and DNS, but now they are drawing the same salary,'' said Leela Dhar Ramchandani, spokesperson of DNU.

Source : Times of India.