TN Nurses Protest Demanding Job Regularisation and Equal Pay
Tamil Nadu Nurses Protest
Chennai: Around 250 nurses from the Tamil Nadu Nurses Empowerment Association staged a demonstration in Chennai on Thursday, urging the State government to fulfil long-pending demands for job regularisation, fair wages, and better service conditions.
The protesting nurses urged the DMK government to fulfil its election promise to regularise the services of all nurses recruited on consolidated pay through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MRB).
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Speaking to TNIE, N Subin, general secretary, Tamil Nadu Nurses Empowerment Association, said the service of around 7,500 nurses who were recruited through the Medical Services Recruitment Board (MSRB) in 2017 and 2019 has not been regularised.
According to norms, nurses recruited through the MSRB are required to serve on a contract basis for two years before their services are regularised. However, Subin stated that, despite this mandate, many nurses continue to work on a contractual basis beyond the stipulated period.
He noted that nurses began with a meagre monthly consolidated pay of ₹7,700 in 2015. Following multiple protests, their pay was gradually raised—first to ₹14,000 in 2018 and then to ₹18,000 in 2021, with an annual increment of 5%. However, these figures still pale in comparison to the nearly ₹60,000 earned by nurses in regular government posts in Chennai.
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The association also demanded the reinstatement of nurses who served during the COVID-19 pandemic and were later terminated, restoration of Nursing Superintendent Grade 3 posts, and a structured promotion system with salary revisions at seven, 14, 20, and 25 years of service.
