Nurses in Government hospitals across the country on Saturday called off their indefinite strike after reaching a compromise with the Centre, in a major relief for Delhi and some other cities battling rising cases of dengue and chikungunya.
The strike called by the All India Government Nurses Federation (AIGNF) yesterday had severely crippled health services at hospitals in the national capital and some other cities in the last two days.
After after the strike began, Delhi Government had invoked the stringent Essential Service Maintenance Act (ESMA) and declared the stir as illegal. Two male nurses of Dr Ambedkar Hospital in outer Delhi were on Saturday arrested under the Act.
“We have been given assurance by the central Government that our outstanding issues would be resolved by September 12. Also, the Delhi Chief Secretary has assured us that the police cases against the two nurses would be withdrawn and they would be released. So, we are calling off our nationwide strike,” AIGNF spokesperson liladhar Ramchandani told PTI.
The Centre has constituted a committee headed by the Finance Secretary to look into the outstanding demands which has invited the nurses federation on September 12 for talks.