AIIMS nurses to join stir

NEW DELHI, May 14: In a move that would give fillip to the ongoing nurses strike, the nurses union at the All India Institute of Medical Sci...

NEW DELHI, May 14: In a move that would give fillip to the ongoing nurses strike, the nurses union at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences AIIMS has decided to go on indefinite strike from tomorrow.

President of the AIIMS Nurses Union8217;s Asha Bedi today announced, soon after a general body meeting, that they would join the Delhi Nurses Union DNU stir. The DNU has been on strike for the last ten days, seeking better pay and faster promotions.

While the Delhi Police has not yet begun arresting the nurses under the Essential Services Maintenance Act, 11 FIRs were lodged against the striking nurses. A metropolitan magistrate in Delhi had directed the police commissioner yesterday to arrest the agitating nurses. 8220;We have received the order from the court and we have scrutinised it ,8221; said Police Commissioner V.N. Singh. However, he added, 8220;We have found a flaw in the order and we are going back to the court.8221; He refused to elaborate on the nature of the flaw.

According to sources in the Health Ministry, a package was worked out with the nurses last night. The Union Health Minister Dalit Ezhilmalai was now awaiting approval from the Finance Ministry for the package.

The general secretary of DNU, G.K. Khurana said, 8220;We have not been invited for any talks yet and the Centre8217;s future course of action is very uncertain. However, we are going ahead with the strike.8221;

Metropolitan magistrate Rajesh Aggarwal had issued an order yesterday directing the police commissioner to arrest the striking nurses under the ESMA. He had also ordered that they should be produced before his court and an action taken report filed on or before May 15.

Cases have been registered against eleven nurses under ESMA. Five of the cases have been registered against nurses from Bara Hindu Rao in the Subzi Mandi police station.

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Of the other six cases, which have been registered at the IP Estate police station, three of them have been registered against nurses of G.B. Pant hospital and three against nurses of Loknayak Hospital. However, no arrests have been made as yet.

The Delhi Government has said that 50 striking nurses have joined duty and 70 NCC girl cadets have volunteered to replace the striking nurses in hospitals. According to Delhi Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, there were 2,086 nurses working before the strike, of these 250 nurses had not joined the stir and 700 newly recruited nurses have been deployed in place of those on strike.

The 10-day strike has critically affected health services. Even as the Centre and the Delhi Government insist that services in emergency and OPD have not been disrupted, the number of patients waiting for medical aid has been mounting.