Tamil Nadu nurses staged a protest at the Omandurar Government Medical College Hospital campus in Chennai on November 12, demanding permanent government employment for nurses working in state hospitals on contract pay. The demonstration was organised by the Tamil Nadu Nurses Development Association, which also sought regular pay scales and a formal recruitment process for temporary staff.
Nurses who participated in the protest raised slogans in support of their demands. The association said the issue affects approximately 6,500 nurses currently working in government hospitals on a consolidated-pay basis. It called for these nurses to be brought into the regular time-scale pay structure and granted permanent status.
The association’s secretary, Subin, said all nurses working temporarily should be made permanent through the Medical Services Recruitment Board, or MRB. The demand places the recruitment agency at the centre of the nurses’ proposal for resolving the employment status of staff already working in government hospitals.
The protesters also sought counselling for transfers to newly created nursing posts. Transfer counselling is one of the association’s demands for nurses appointed to new positions, alongside the broader request for permanent employment and regular pay.
The association further asked the government to appoint nurses and nursing tutors to permanent posts in government hospitals and nursing colleges. The demand therefore extends beyond nurses currently working on contract pay to staffing arrangements in both clinical facilities and nursing education institutions.
Speaking during the protest, Subin said the government should consider the association’s demands. He warned that the nurses would organise further protests if their requests were not examined. The report did not specify a government response to the demands or announce any change in the employment status of the nurses.
The protest highlights an employment and staffing issue within Tamil Nadu’s public hospital system: a large group of nurses is working in government facilities while seeking inclusion in permanent service structures. The association’s stated demands combine regularisation, pay scales, recruitment through the MRB, transfer counselling and permanent appointments in hospitals and nursing colleges.
No further details were reported on the next form of protest, the government’s timeline for considering the requests, or any administrative decision concerning the 6,500 nurses. The association’s proposed next step is to intensify its agitation if the demands are not taken up for consideration.
