The Kerala Private Hospitals Association (KPHA) has termed the United Nurses’ Association (UNA)-led strike by nurses as illegal and has sought government intervention to end the agitation.
The association argued that the nurses’ demand for a basic salary of ₹40,000 was financially unsustainable. It asked the government to invoke the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to end the strike and restore essential hospital services.
“The strike is unfair because what started as a one-day protest bypassed the 14-day notice period and turned into an indefinite agitation without proper notice,” the organization said in a statement.
She further said that the basic pay of ₹40,000 is yet to be approved as it does not meet the minimum wage regulations. “Minimum wages are determined by the government through a formal assessment process as opposed to informal negotiations. A review of minimum wages has currently been initiated,” it said.
Current salaries in the nursing sector are already well above previous lows, the organization said. If the wage increase was approved, all hospitals would have to increase the cost of treatment, which would mean that private health care would be unaffordable for ordinary people.
At the same time, UNA leader Jasmine Shah said that the statements were made to mislead the public. “The strike is going on in more than 20 hospitals, mostly corporate hospitals and private medical colleges. which have refused to increase wages. We are holding discussions here too. Moreover, no critical services are affected as minimum staff has been deployed,” Mr Shah said.
He added that the private hospitals did not demand a basic salary of ₹40,000 but rather a gross salary of around ₹32,700. “We only asked the government for a basic salary and we asked the hospital management to increase the salaries of the staff in proportion to the number of hospital beds,” he added.
Published – 01 Apr 2026 22:23 IST
