Hyderabad: Now, NIMS contract nurses up the ante over salary hike

Hyderabad: After Gandhi Hospital, now the contract staff nurses of NIMS are protesting for a pay hike which they say was decided in last August.

Around 450 contract nurses boycotted their duties and staged a sit-in dharna in the hospital. Services were affected and NIMS administration had to depend on the services of the regular nurses in the absence of their contract colleagues.

It may be mentioned here that the government agreed to hike pay of outsourcing nurses in all teaching hospitals to Rs 25,000 and accordingly NIMS administration sent a word to the agitating nurses that they too would be given that pay scale. However, the nurses were not happy and continued with their strike.

"Among 450 nurses, around 120 are working from for five to 10 years while the rest of them have work experience under 5 years. How can they give a common pay of Rs 25,000 to all ignoring our years of service.

We want the NIMS administration to give Rs 30,000 salary for those having five or more years of experience and Rs 25,000 for those below it," a senior nurse said.