About 280 nurses protesting a recent government order (GO) to consider students of private nursing colleges for state jobs were arrested Thursday as they tried to stage a demonstration and block traffic outside the directorate of medical education office on Anna Salai. They were released in the evening.
The nurses from government hospital have been agitating for the past three days and are determined to continue the protest till the GO is withdrawn. The nurses fear they won’t be able to compete with students of private colleges.
More than 1,500 nurses were arrested in various parts of the state on January 24 for similar protests.
Meanwhile, students of School of Nursing at Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) were asked to go home for a week after they staged a sit-in.
Nearly 560 students had protested on Tuesday despite a reminder by hospital authorities that they would be committing contempt of the Madras high court, which had directed the TN government in June 2011 to grant equal job opportunities to students of private and government nursing colleges.