The Delhi Government imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) on nurses' strike for higher salaries on Friday. The act was imposed on the nurses as they continued protesting, despite the government assuring them on their demands.
Apart from nurses, radiologists went on strike from Sept. 1 protesting against harassment they face from the Health ministry/department when clerical errors are passed off as violation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Prohibition of Sex Selection Act (PC &PNDT)), 1994.
"We are not happy with the response of the government and so we will go ahead with our proposed strike. But, we will attend to emergency and critical cases," Liladhar Ramchandani, the spokesperson of All India Government Nurses Federation, said on Friday.
The radiologists also joined the strike, with nurses across the country demanding greater salaries.
Police reportedly manhandled nurses and dragged them into buses on Friday. Journalists also alleged that they were manhandled by the police in the national capital.
The protest comes on the same day that trade unions across the country called for a nation-wide strike. Around 1.8 million workers reportedly did not turn up for work on Friday.
Meanwhile, essential services like hospitals remained open throughout the country. However, the nurses strike in multiple cities comes at a time when the there are multiple dengue and chikungunya cases, which can be life threatening if not treated at the right time. At least eight people died of dengue and 480 cases of dengue were reported in Delhi in the recent months. At least 400 cases of Chikungunya were reported.
Nurses said that they will not abandon emergency cases, NDTV reported.
"We tried to convince them but they are adamant about their demands. The ministry has assured them but they are not yielding. Also, so many people are suffering from dengue and chikungunya in this season, and we also asked them to defer the strike but in vain," said Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital's Medical Superintendent AK Gadpayle.
