Despite govt’s intervention, contractual nurses refuse to end stir

Bhubaneswar: Contractual staff nurses, who have been on an indefinite protest since December 18, refused to call off their stir even after getting assurance from Odisha's Health Minister Pratap Jena regarding redressal of their grievances.

The protesters said they will continue the stir till they get a written assurance from the government as they are not satisfied with the assurance of the minister.

“The government has been dilly-dallying the issue. We will continue our protest till the government gives us a written assurance to fulfill all our demands in a time-bound period,” said Nibedita Sahoo, a nurse who is part of the agitation.

“We have been informed that the general secretary of our association, Pravati Mohanty has agreed to withdraw the agitation temporarily after a discussion with the health minister. How could she make a decision without taking our consent?” questioned Nibedita, adding that Pravati might have taken the decision under some pressure from the government.

Also Read: Contractual nurses’ stir hits health services

Demanding regularisation of their service and hike in salary, thousands of contractual nurses have been staging agitation in the State capital. The contractual staff nurses at Cuttack’s SCB Hospital, Burla’s VSS Medical College and Berhampur’s MKCG Hospital are also on cease work agitation.

Earlier on Thursday, the health minister had met the agitators and assured them to look into their demands.