MADURAI: Nurses who are working on contract basis in government hospitals and primary health centres in Tamil Nadu for the past over seven years have a sigh of relief now as their important demand of ‘Equal Pay for work’ is set to implemented soon, giving them salary on par with permanent nurses.
The Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses Empowerment Association which has been spearheading the various demands of contract nurses has informed today about the Madras High Court order dated 21st November 2022 directing the Tamil Nadu Health Department authorities to give equal salary to contract nurses after giving opportunity of hearing and comparing the nature of work of each contract nurse with that of permanent nurses in government hospitals.
This exercise shall be commenced on 1st December 2022 and shall be concluded by 31st December 2022. A report to that effect shall be submitted to the court on the next hearing date i.e. 4th January 2023.
“In the light of the above, a direction is issued to the Principal Secretary of Department of Health and Family Welfare-Chennai, to call for individual representations from each and everyone of the 10,000 nurses, compare their duties to that of the regular nurses and thereby comply with the order dated 11th June 2018 passed by this Court in W.P.No.31213 of 2017………IN CASE OF NURSES PERFORMING THE SAME DUTIES, EQUAL REMUNERATION WILL NECESSARILY HAVE TO BE PAID AS OBSERVED BY THIS COURT…..DECIDE ON CASE TO CASE BASIS WHICH OF THE NURSES ARE APPOINTED ON CONTRACT ARE PERFORMING THE SAME DUTIES AS THE NURSES OF GOVERNMENT HOSPITALS……” the Madras High Court order has said on 21st November 2022, order given by judges by S.Vaidyanathan and P.T.Asha.
Meanwhile, the general secretary of Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses Empowerment Association general secretary N.Subin told ‘LotusTimes’ www.lotustimes.org today that more than 7,000 nurses have been employed on contract basis by the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB) and they are working since 2015 in government hospitals and primary health centres. “The appointment order was issued stating that their job will be made permanent within two years of joining the service. Since it was not implemented, contract nurses had to stage protests and requests on several occasions……and later on the Court ordered on 11th June 2018 that contract nurses should be compared with permanent nurses and equal wages should be paid to those contract nurses doing equal work.”
Since the government did not implement that court order, the association had to take steps to file a contempt of court case. “The case was heard on November 21st 2022 and the Health secretary should file an affidavit on 15th December 2022 for contempt of court and from 1st December 2022, the nature of work of each contract nurse should be compared with that of permanent nurses. The honourable court has asked the Health secretary to file action taken report on 4th January 2023,” the Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses Empowerment Association, has said giving the case details and outcome to ‘LotusTimes’ in Madurai on 1st December 2022.
