Odisha: Protesting nurses call off 4-day strike, join duties

Bhubaneswar, Sep 29 (PTI) Protesting nurses at state-run hospitals in Odisha called off their four-day-long strike after they got assurance from Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling that their 10-point demand would be “fulfilled”.

Odisha Nursing Employees’ Union general secretary Ashwini Kumar Das said nurses joined duties from 11 PM on Saturday after a discussion with the minister.

“We called off the strike after the government assured us that our demands would soon be fulfilled. The minister said that the government is aware of our demands and has set up an inter-departmental committee to address our issues,” Das told reporters.

The nursing staff working in government hospitals have been demanding the fulfilment of their 10-point charter of demands.

Their demands include the regularisation of services of the nurses appointed on a contractual basis, change of dress code, administrative posts in the nursing service cadre, discontinuation of engaging nursing officers through outsourcing agencies and place-based incentives for nursing officers/employees who are working in tribal-dominated areas.

Mahaling had earlier said that the agitating nursing officials agreed to withdraw their strike.

Though the state government had imposed the Odisha Emergency Services (Maintenance) Act (ESMA), 1988 to prevent the strike, the nursing staff had defied the order and continued their cease work for which the health services were severely hit across the state.