Thrissur: Nurses working in private hospitals across Kerala will stage a token strike on Saturday, demanding that the minimum monthly salary be raised to ₹40,000. The protest is being organised under the leadership of the United Nurses Association (UNA).

UNA national president Jasmine Shah told the media that the state government had failed to issue an order revising nurses' wages. He warned that the association would intensify its agitation with further protest programmes if the government did not intervene following the token strike.

At present, the minimum salary of nurses in private hospitals stands at ₹20,000. While some hospital managements have expressed willingness to increase the salary to ₹40,000, they have maintained that a government order is required to implement the hike. In this context, the UNA has demanded immediate intervention by the government.

As part of the strike, only one-third of hospital staff will report for duty tomorrow, while the others will participate in the token protest. A rights declaration meeting will also be held in Thrissur on the day of the strike.

Meanwhile, referring to the recent incident at Alappuzha Government Medical College, where a surgical instrument was allegedly left inside a woman's abdomen during surgery, Jasmine Shah said the issue reflects systemic failures. He stressed that maintaining the proper nurse-to-patient ratio is essential to prevent such incidents. He also alleged that doctors often shift the entire responsibility onto nurses in such cases.