The Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) government is facing allegations of using police action against protesting nurses, with the latest crackdown drawing comparisons with the previous DMK regime after more than 1,000 nurses were allegedly detained and five protest leaders were reportedly arrested after being invited to the Tamil Nadu Secretariat for talks, as reported in India Today..
The protest also saw former DMK minister Mano Thangaraj joining the nurses’ agitation in Chennai and subsequently being arrested as the protest continued into the night.
The nurses, under the banner of the Tamil Nadu Intermediate Health Workers’ Association, gathered near the Rajaratnam Stadium in Egmore from across Tamil Nadu and staged a hunger strike demanding permanent employment, job security, higher wages and payment of pending incentives, as reported in Hindu Tamil.
The protesters are currently paid around Rs 21,000 a month and are demanding that their salaries be raised to Rs 45,000, on par with other states. They are also seeking equal pay for equal work, permanent employment for contractual workers, payment of incentives that have allegedly remained unpaid since 2023, and paid maternity leave for intermediate health nurses.
Association president Sundari said the protesters would continue their agitation until their demands were met. She also pointed to the TVK’s election promise to regularise contractual employees and demanded that the government fulfil the commitment.
The protest took a political turn with former DMK minister Mano Thangaraj joining the nurses on stage in support of their demands. While he was present, the protesters reportedly raised slogans pointing out that their demands had not been fulfilled when M.K. Stalin was Chief Minister and called upon the present Vijay government to address them.
Thangaraj also acknowledged that intermediate health workers were receiving around Rs 21,000 a month and said their demand for higher wages should be considered. He argued that health workers were entitled to equal rights and pay for equal work and urged the government to fulfil the nurses’ demands.
However, when journalists questioned him on why no action had been taken to fulfil the nurses’ demands when the DMK was in power and nurses had protested at that time as well, Thangaraj said he had not joined the protest on behalf of the DMK but had come to raise his voice in support of the workers’ rights.
Meanwhile, Advocate Varatharaajan, who is providing legal support to the protesters, alleged that the government had invited representatives for negotiations. According to him, around 4,000 protesting nurses decided to send only five leaders to the Secretariat for the talks.
The advocate alleged that the five leaders were arrested after entering the Secretariat instead of being allowed to participate in negotiations. He described the incident as a betrayal and said the protesters would continue their agitation.
As the protest continued into the night, police allegedly forcibly detained more than 1,000 nurses and loaded them into vehicles. A confrontation reportedly broke out between the police and protesters, with arguments and pushing and shoving between the two sides.
A section of the protesters subsequently sat on the road outside the Rajaratnam Stadium and staged a road blockade, keeping the situation tense. Former minister Mano Thangaraj, who had joined the protest in support of the nurses, was also arrested.
Varatharaajan further accused the TVK government of functioning like a police state and alleged that the authorities were attempting to suppress the nurses’ agitation through police action.
He said the protesters were prepared to face arrest and other consequences rather than withdraw their demands. He also held Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay responsible for the welfare of the protesting nurses and said the government would have to answer if any nurse suffered harm during the ongoing agitation.
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