Following the ongoing strike of the nurses at Manipal Teaching Hospital, the nurses of another private hospital namely Gandaki Medical College (GMC) are on strike for the increment of wage. The nurses had recurring talks with the administration of the hospital before going on the strike in the evening of October 13, 2025. They only stopped working after the administration mentioned their inability to meet the nurses’ demands.
The nurses chanted slogans like “Stop labour exploitation”, “We are not machines” and “Give us facilities like government officials” within the premises of the hospital. ‘We provide services as provided by the nurses at the government hospitals and thus we need equal pay as we are getting paid way less than the rate of the government hospitals.’ As of now services pertaining to orthopaedics, gynaecology and HCU has been paused but if the demands are not met, other services that are important will be stopped. There are around three hundred and fifty nurses working at GMC. The private hospitals are yet to implement the Government’s mandate of December 12, 2024 stating that the nurses of healthcare institutions shall not be paid less than government services.
The protesting nurses have been demanding that they be paid according to the salary scale prescribed for government service. Currently, the government salary scale for nurses begins from the fourth level. In government service, the salary for an ANM at the fourth level is set at NPR 35,288; for a Staff Nurse at the fifth level, NPR 38,290; for an Officer at the sixth level, NPR 44,325; at the seventh level, NPR 46,515; at the eighth level, NPR 48,032; at the ninth level, NPR 51,660; at the tenth level, NPR 55,964; at the eleventh level, NPR 57,862; and at the twelfth level, NPR 66,860. The nurses have taken to the streets demanding that they be paid according to this official scale. They have warned that they will continue their protest until their demand is met.
Sanjay Ranabhat