They have also planned to stage a sit-in at the health directorate on Thursday. In a bid to pressure the state government into accepting their 13-point charter of demands, government nurses who are members of the UP Rajkiya Nurses Sangh (UPRNS), a body representing nurses working in state government hospitals, abstained from work for two hours across several hospitals on Wednesday.
“If positive steps are not taken soon to resolve the demands, the ongoing two-hour work boycott could be converted into an indefinite one.
The government and administration would be entirely responsible for any situation arising from such a development,” said Kumar.
The UPRNS also urged the government and administration to seriously consider all demands, take an early decision on those already agreed upon as well as the remaining pending issues, and issue necessary government orders to ensure justice for the nursing officers and employees who play a vital role in the state’s healthcare system. The 13-point charter of demands include the state government providing the old pension scheme to eligible nurses and ensuring home-district postings, as previously assured by the health minister and state officials.
“We have been wearing black badges since October 9. As part of the next phase, nurses will stage a sit-in at the health directorate in Lucknow tomorrow and hold a peaceful protest to draw the attention of the government and administration toward their pending issues and the 13-point charter of demands,” said Ashok Kumar, general secretary of UPRNS. Today (Wednesday), nurses protested with a two-hour work boycott.
