Kerala govt to discuss wage issues with nurses, private hospital managements on 20 July

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government would hold a meeting of nurses association and private hospital managements on 20 July to settle various issues, including hike in wages and other allowances. [caption id=“attachment_3730091” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Pinarayi Vijayan. PTI[/caption] Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would hold discussions with representatives of nurses associations and private hospital managements on July 20, an official release said here today. The nurses under the United Nurses Association had on Saturday postponed their state-wide indefinite strike planned from Sunday following government intervention to 19 July. Members of the outfit said that the decision in this regard was taken at their state committee meeting after the intervention of the Chief Minister’s Office. The strike call was given by United Nurses Association demanding minimum wages of Rs 20,000 as fixed by the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, BJP alleged that state government instead of settling the nurses’ issue was trying to suppress their agitation. BJP national executive member V Muraleedharan said in a statement that government had acted in favour of private hospital managements and denied the reasonable wages to nurses. ‘Directing nurses to join duty by threatening to impose ESMA was anti-working class,’ Muraleedharan said.