Police in Dhaka, Bangladesh, have filed a case against 1,400 nurses for 'preventing the law enforcers from carrying out their duties' during a nurses protest on 1 June outside Health Minister Mohammad Nasim's home. Police used batons, teargas and water cannons to disperse the nurses, injuring at least 50. Ten police officers were also injured. A pregnant protester was reportedly hit in the stomach, resulting in a miscarriage.
Nurses in Bangladesh began protests at the end of March, in reaction to a 28 March Public Service Commission (PSC) announcement that 3,616 senior nurse positions at public hospitals would be filled on the basis of an exam scheduled for 3 June. The exam is restricted to candidates under the age of 36 who have completed a Bachelor's degree in Science and a diploma in nursing.
Bangladesh has thousands of qualified nurses competing for a limited number of top posts in the country. The government last recruited 4,100 nurses for public hospital posts in 2013. The previous recruitment system took seniority into consideration and did not impose an age limit. According to the Bangladesh Basic Graduate Nurses' Society, and the Unemployed Diploma Nurses' Association, many qualified nurses who were waiting for the next round of recruitment are older than 36, meaning they will not be able to apply under the new rules.
Nurses' representatives met with Health Minister Mohammad Nasim several times in May to put forward their demands, including a request for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to decide on this issue. Nasim initially promised to arrange a meeting with the PM by 24 May, and then again by 1 June. The protest outside Nasim's house began at the end of working hours on 1 June.
The 3 June exam was not postponed. Nurses across the country boycotted the exam and resumed their protests in the morning outside Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) campus.
The protests have had serious consequences for both public and private hospitals, particularly for patients in critical care.
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