CHENNAI: In a major relief for thousands of contract nurses who have been doing the same work as permanent staff but were getting only one-third of their salary, the Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the State government to ensure equal pay and benefits for them.

The order by Justices R Subramanian and PT Asha would end the wage disparity faced by 8,573 contract nurses in State-run hospitals, who would now get parity with permanent nurses, including maternity leave and service benefits. The bench directed the government to ensure this within three months, warning of contempt proceedings for non-compliance.

The verdict closed a 2019 contempt petition filed by the Tamil Nadu MRB Nurses Empowerment Association against the Health Secretary for not complying with a 2018 court order addressing the pay inequity.

A court-appointed committee, led by retired judges V Parthiban and V Bharathidasan, confirmed that these contract nurses perform identical duties to permanent staff, noted the State’s “step-motherly treatment” and deemed the term “contract nurses” a misnomer.

These contract nurses, often called MRB nurses, earned nearly 70 per cent less than their permanent counterparts despite equivalent workloads, sparking prolonged protests. The court stressed that denying equal wages violated the constitutional principle of “equal pay for equal work.”