ESIC nursing officers take part in nationwide black badge protest against mandatory transfers
Nursing officers working in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals and medical institutions across the country on Thursday, July 16, began a three-day black badge
Nursing officers working in Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) hospitals and medical institutions across the country on Thursday, July 16, began a three-day black badge protest against large-scale mandatory transfers carried out under the Annual General Transfer (AGT) 2026. Nursing officers from ESIC Medical College in Hyderabad also participated in the protest. The protest, organised by the All India ESIC Nursing Officers’ Federation (AIESICNOF), marks the first phase of a nationwide agitation over the transfer of Assistant Nursing Superintendents, Senior Nursing Officers and Nursing Officers.
The federation has already served a strike notice to the Union Minister for Labour and Employment, who is also the Chairman of ESIC, alleging that the transfer orders violate the existing transfer policy and were issued without transparent or objective criteria. According to the federation, the transfers contradict earlier assurances from the ESIC Director General and the Union Labour Minister that mandatory transfers in the nursing cadre would not be implemented and that transfers would be considered only on request basis against available vacancies.
The black badge protest will continue until July 18. On July 20, nursing officers will stage a two-hour protest demonstration at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., alongside similar demonstrations at ESIC medical institutions across the country. This will be followed by a peaceful march to Shram Shakti Bhawan, the headquarters of the Ministry of Labour and Employment. The federation has called for a nationwide mass casual leave on July 21.
It warned that if the demands remain unresolved, nursing officers across ESIC institutions would launch an indefinite strike from July 22. AIESICNOF has demanded the immediate withdrawal of all mandatory transfer orders issued under AGT 2026 and revision of the nursing cadre transfer policy in consultation with the federation before any future transfer exercise is undertaken.
The BriefWire