STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The All India ESIC Nursing Officers’ Federation (AIESICNOF) will launch a three-day nationwide Black Badge Protest from Thursday, July 16, against what it has termed “illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory” mandatory transfer orders issued under the Annual General Transfer (AGT)-2026.
The protest marks the first phase of a nationwide agitation that will be observed across all Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) medical institutions, ESIC hospitals and DCBOs. The federation has also served a formal strike notice to the Union Minister for Labour and Employment, who is also the Chairman of ESIC, alleging that the transfer orders were issued in violation of the existing transfer policy and without any transparent or objective criteria.
According to the federation, the transfers of Assistant Nursing Superintendents (ANS), Senior Nursing Officers (SNO) and Nursing Officers were carried out despite repeated assurances from the ESIC Director General and the Union Labour Minister that mandatory transfers in the nursing cadre would not be undertaken and that transfers would be considered only on a request basis against available vacancies. AIESICNOF alleged that the transfer exercise disregards the principles of fairness, equality and natural justice while placing hundreds of nursing personnel and their families under severe mental, social and financial stress.
The federation stated that nursing is a predominantly female profession and claimed that many women nursing officers have been transferred to stations located thousands of kilometres away from their current postings without taking into account humanitarian concerns such as childcare, spouse employment, the education of children and the care of elderly parents.
It further said that despite submitting repeated representations, holding meetings with ESIC authorities, participating in conciliation proceedings and maintaining dialogue with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, its grievances remained unresolved. Instead, the federation alleged that the administration proceeded with the large-scale transfers while attempting to weaken the federation’s representative role.
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