Mumbai: The indefinite strike by over 30,000 nurses in Maharashtra, initiated on July 18, persists despite a meeting with Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif that showed some promise. The government has tentatively agreed to cancel contractual positions and promote nurses to nursing officers, but the Maharashtra State Nurses Association insists the strike will continue until these changes are officially confirmed and a follow-up meeting occurs.
Demands include ending contractual hiring, ensuring permanent recruitment, making timely promotions, and resolving long-standing pay disparities under the Seventh Pay Commission. The strike intensified due to a recent government circular about new contractual recruitments.
Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif vowed to release a circular addressing the nurses' demands on Wednesday; however, since no action has been taken, the strike by nurses will persist.
Images of wards becoming vacant as a result of the nurses' strike are now coming to light. Approximately 45,000 nurses in the state have been demonstrating for equal compensation, filling vacant positions, and various other significant requests.
There are frequent complaints that patients are unable to secure beds in state government hospitals, and in J J Hospital, images showed that beds in the wards were not vacant.
Because of insufficient space, certain patients must receive treatment on the floor, but currently, many wards are vacant. Only four to five patients are in the medicine ward, and they are cared for by trainee nurses. New patients are not being accepted. According to a few reports about 4000 surgeries at state hospitals have been postponed due to understaffing.
Sumitra Tote, General Secretary of the Maharashtra State Nurses' Association, mentioned that the Nurses' Association held a meeting with the Medical Education Minister on Tuesday.
In the meantime, the government has vowed to meet certain demands, but it was mentioned that they would be provided in writing on Wednesday. Nevertheless, as no circular regarding this was released by Wednesday evening, the strike will persist.
