Why were AIIMS nurses on a strike?

Around 5,000 AIIMS nurses went on an indefinite strike since Monday afternoon in support of a number of demands, including lack of clarity of their salary structure under the Sixth Pay Commission. Despite requests from the administration to continue work in view of the Covid-19 situation, nurses refused to relent.

DEMANDS RELATED TO SALARY In a letter to the Director of AIIMS dated November 13, the nurses cited 23 unresolved demands. Foremost among them was the demand to address the Sixth Pay Commission anomaly with respect to their salaries. Nurses said their salary was fixed at Rs 18,460 per month but they receive Rs 17,140. They said that their demand is not a pay hike, rather, that they are paid what is mentioned under the Sixth Pay Commission. They had written to the administration last month, stating that they would go on an indefinite strike if the issues were not resolved soon.

OTHER DEMANDS The nurses are also protesting against the reservation on the basis of gender at AIIMS that requires 80 percent of the nursing staff to be female. Nurses say the quota is leaving many qualified men unemployed.

Their other demands are related to the pension scheme, cadre restructuring, qualification pay, and modifications in the job description, among others.

The hospital has also decided to outsource nurses on a contractual basis, which has angered the nurses further. The nurses said that earlier candidates had to sit for an entrance test in order to get recruited. Recruiting nurses on a contractual basis, they say, will adversely impact the superior quality of healthcare provided by AIIMS. THE STATEMENT FROM AIIMS

In a video message to the nursing union on Monday, AIIMS director Dr. Randeep Guleria made an appeal to all the nurses to not go on strike during the pandemic.

As a result of the strike, officials said, emergency services, outpatient departments (OPD), and operation theatres (OT) will be curtailed and services rendered depending on the availability of resident doctors and faculty members. Dr. Randeep Guleria appealed to the nurses to call off their agitation. “I appeal to all nurses and nursing officers not to go on strike, and not to make us feel embarrassed about the dignity that we have as far as the nurses are concerned,” he said. “I, therefore, appeal to all of you to come back and work and really help us get through this pandemic.” THE COURT ORDER The Delhi High Court on Tuesday restrained the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Nurses’ Union from continuing their indefinite strike, reported Bar and Bench. The order was passed by the single-judge Bench of Justice Navin Chawla on a petition by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

“Respondent is restrained from continuing with the strike till further orders,” the court said. The court passed the order after it was also informed that all the grievances raised by the nurses were being looked into in a sympathetic manner. The matter would be heard next on January 18, 2021.

In its plea, the AIIMS had alleged that the strike was illegal as it violated the Industrial Disputes Act as well as a Division Bench order prohibiting any such action by AIIMS employees. It added that AIIMS is a “public utility” the ongoing strike by its nurses was against the public interest. “Nurses left their jobs, all clinical work. AIIMS is a Covid hospital,” said the hospital’s counsel.

AIIMS told the court that it had no role to play in the resolution of nurses' demand pertaining to the Sixth Pay Commission and the strike was a pressure-building tactic. THE CURRENT SITUATION

Dr Guleria also said of the 23 demands raised by the union, almost all had been met by the AIIMS administration. On the demand regarding the 6th Pay Commission, he said it was basically a “perceived anomaly” in the fixation of the initial payment as per the commission.

AIIMS Nurses Union President Harish Kajla on Tuesday said that they were ready to talk with the institute’s administration. “We are feeling bad for patients but we’re helpless as our demands haven’t been met,” Kajla said. “We had given notice for strike a month ago but even then the administration didn’t listen to our demand.”

THE BOTTOM LINE

At the end of the day, it is they who form the backbone of the health system in our country and it becomes the duty of the administration to negotiate and fulfill their demands. the nurses should also be aware of the same that without them, the health system would collapse, and go on an indefinite strike might put our country into a worse situation than it already is.