Nurses approach NHRC,Labour Ministry; Apollo says not fired yet

“Yesterday,the authorities were not willing to listen to anything the nurses had to say. Today,after the matter has snowballed,they maintain that the nurses have not been terminated,” she said.

The nurses say they will soon meet Union Ministers A K Antony and Vayalar Ravi.

Though the Apollo management insists that the nurses have not been terminated,the hospital refused to speak to the nurses or their families.

As of Tuesday,the resignation letters of the nurses were with the nursing superintendent. “The hospital has not informed us whether we have been terminated or not. Yesterday,they told us to get out and not come back,” one of the two nurses,Jincy Joseph (name changed),said. “Though they are telling everyone that we are not fired,they are not answering our calls.”

Meanwhile,in a press release the hospital said: “The nurses are still with the hospital.” The spokesperson,however,refused to comment on the manual given to new employees,instructing them not speak in native languages inside the hospital.

After Jincy Joseph and Lijy Menon (names changed) came for their afternoon shift at 1.45 pm on Monday,they greeted each other in the lift lobby in Malayalam. The Nursing Superintendent Usha Bannerjee,who was standing behind them,heard it and they were asked to resign and leave the hospital.