Hundreds of medical surgeries in India's premier medical institute, the AIIMS in Delhi, were halted after nurses launched an indefinite strike on Tuesday.
"The union has always been receptive and open to expressing our genuine concerns throughout this issue". "But unfortunately, we were neither called nor contacted via any communication, which forced us to go on an indefinite strike to safeguard the basic rights of our members", reads a letter sent by the nurses' union to the AIIMS Delhi director.
"We would like to remind you that the undemocratic AIIMS administration will be solely responsible for the consequences, if any", it adds.
According to media reports, the nurses' union wants the revocation of a decision to suspend its president, Harish Kajla, which was made on Monday following another protest on 23 April by a group of nurses over a staffing shortage, which resulted in the cancellation of at least 50 planned surgeries.
After the cancellation of the surgeries, the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) complained against Kajla for alleged misbehaviour with a resident doctor on duty and asked for the immediate suspension of Kajla, as well as the initiation of disciplinary action against him.
Meanwhile, a video shared by patients and their kin shows dozens of people sitting in the waiting area due to the absence of nurses, with some complaining that they should have been informed beforehand about the situation.
The nursing staff are holding a protest outside the hospital.