Following the strike by Kerala nurses in the state private health sector demanding an increase in basic pay to ₹40,000, the government has now issued a draft notification revising the minimum wages of all classes of employees in the state private health sector.
According to the draft notification issued by the Department of Labor and Skills, the proposed revised salaries of GNM/BSC/Registered Special Class ANM (10 years experience)/ EMT/Ambulance Nurse will range from ₹25,450 to ₹30,800. For the top group of Nurse Managers (MSc. + 5 years of experience/ BSc. + 10 years of experience)/ Director of Nursing/ Director of Nursing, the proposed revised basic pay ranges from ₹ 27,330 to ₹ 33,080.
The draft notification states that the proposal will be taken up for consideration two months from the date of publication of the notification or later.
The nurses have been on strike since Monday
However, the United Nurses’ Association (UNA), which led the nurses’ strike on Wednesday demanding a uniform pay structure for nurses in the private sector and a basic salary of ₹40,000 at par with the basic salary given to nurses in the public health sector, said the UNA would not budge from its demand for a basic salary of ₹40,000.
On Wednesday, when UNA, the largest private sector nurses’ union, led the nurses’ strike, it spared one-third of its members from participating in the strike so that ICUs and emergency departments in hospitals would not be affected.
The UNA has now threatened to go on a general and indefinite strike from Monday as the proposed pay review comes nowhere close to what the nurses are demanding. The strike will now take place in front of hospitals.
Those hospitals where the management agreed to pay a basic wage of ₹40,000 would be spared the strikes. UNA also demanded that these managements enter into a wage agreement with UNA
Healthcare delivery in private hospitals across the state would be affected if the nurses go ahead with the proposed strike.
Published – March 7, 2026 10:27 PM IST
