Nurses of Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre have been agitating on the hospital premises for the past 14 days, demanding permanent appointment at the hospital.

Nurses are also protesting against Nursing Association of Nepal, saying it has failed to act in supporting their cause.

Meena Kharbuja, one of the agitating nurses, said they had been staging sit-in at the hospital for two weeks but the hospital had not yet responded to their demands.

“We have been working at this hospital for more than four years and instead of appointing us as permanent staff, the hospital is trying to appoint other nurses through open competition in coordination with the Public Service Commission,” said Kharbuja.

She said that the hospital should grant permanent status to working nurses before appointing additional nurses, if required, through an open competition.

Other demands of nurses include their pay as per the government scale and scrapping of the contract process while hiring nurses.

Pukar Chandra Shrestha, executive director at Shahid Dharma Bhakta National Transplant Centre, said despite the strike, the hospital had been providing its services to patients on a daily basis.