Thiruvananthapuram: There’s wide appreciation of the work of Kerala nurses at home and abroad, particularly in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. However, a brief protest by nurses on Tuesday – ironically the day devoted worldwide to nurses – brought out some of the harsh realities of the profession in the state.
About 50 nurses at the Koyili Hospital in Kerala’s northern Kannur district held a protest on International Nurses’ Day, demanding that “basic facilities” be ensured for the nursing staff.
Local newspapers in Kerala on Tuesday carried several news stories of the yeomen service being done by nurses and some of them wrote editorials about the “angels of the earth”, but Keralites woke up on Tuesday to see visuals on television of the protest by nurses in Kannur.
The nurses had three key demands – ensure basic facilities, provide gloves, masks, sanitisers and other personal protection equipment on the house instead of the nurses having to buy it on their own, and put an end to the practice of forced leaves at the hospital.
Speaking to television media, some of the nurses said, “Every day we have to buy masks and other protective gear at our expense. This should be provided by the management”.
The protest was called off within a few hours after the management held discussions with the nursing staff.
Speaking to Gulf News, a senior official in the nursing department of Koyili Hospital who did not want to be named, said: “The protest took us by surprise. If we had known their grouse, it could have been solved without such an incident. There are no major problems at the hospital”.
Through 2018 and 2019, nurses in Kerala had carried out a series of strikes under the banner of the United Nurses Association, seeking revised wages for those in the profession.
While there is all round appreciation for nurses’ work, their wages have continued to be listless, with many beginners being paid only roughly Rs10,000 a month (Dh500).
Despite the low remuneration, Kerala has made a name for itself in nursing. Keralite nurse Lini Puthussery who lost her life while treating Nipah patients in 2018 was featured in the obituary page of the London-based Economist magazine.
