Overview

• Over 30,000 nurses under the Maharashtra State Nurses Association began an indefinite strike on July 18 to protest contractual hiring and seek permanent recruitment for thousands of vacant posts
• Hospitals have postponed major elective and routine surgeries as they face severe staffing shortages, deploying nursing students and resident doctors to cover emergency services
• Negotiations with Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif and Health Minister Prakash Abitkar have failed to yield any concessions on core demands
• More than 10,000 Class IV hospital staff, including ward boys and clerks, have threatened to join the strike in solidarity if nurses’ demands are ignored
• With nearly half of government nursing posts vacant following the opening of ten new medical colleges without added staff, hospitals are planning contingency hires of contractual nurses to sustain basic operations