Chennai: The contract nurses, who continued their protest for the 6th day yesterday demanding permanent employment, were arrested after laying siege to the Directorate of Medical Education.
More than 6 thousand nurses were appointed as temporary nurses on contractual basis during the corona pandemic. After the contract period, 3 thousand of them were given permanent employment. Around 800 people were sacked because the reservation system was not followed.
In this case, as the contract ended on December 31, the Tamil Nadu Health Department ordered no extension of work for 2,472 people. In strong opposition to this, contract nurses have been participating in various protests including dharna, demonstration and blockade across Tamil Nadu since 1st.
Various political party leaders are also urging nurses to make their work permanent. In this case, for the 6th day yesterday, 500 contract nurses besieged the office of the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) in Killipakkam, Chennai. The police arrested the nurses claiming that they were protesting without permission and kept them in a nearby hall.
The nurses involved in the protest said, “All the nurses appointed during the corona epidemic should be made permanent. We no longer need temporary contract replacement work. The protest will continue until our demand for job security and job permanence is fulfilled,” he said.