Underpaid nurses A look at pathetic salaries of nurses in private sector

Geeteshwori Moirangthem
Nursing is not a disposable job. Yet in Manipur, nurses are being pushed into severe insecurity and exploitation. Freshers are paid as low as Rs 5,000 a month, some are not paid at all, and even experienced nurses and nursing educators are forced to survive on Rs 10,000–Rs 20,000 in the private sector. This is not just low salary—it is systemic neglect and undervaluing of a life-saving profession. Fear of termination prevents many from speaking out, while over a thousand nurses are compelled to migrate to other States and even abroad for dignity, safety, and quality of life..
Nurses and  healthcare workers deserve dignity, fair wages, and job security, not exploitation and uncertainty while performing life-saving duties. When a single gas cylinder costs Rs 2,500, a Rs 5,000 monthly salary is not just insufficient—it is outright exploitation. No working professional can survive under such conditions. This exposes a harsh reality, private sector employers are treating nurses as disposable labor, not skilled professionals.
This is not accidental underpayment, it is systemic devaluation and disrespect to nurses and also nurses are forced to live in such conditions, the collapse of healthcare services is not a possibility—it is inevitable.
Nurses are frontline workers—the backbone of the healthcare system. Day and night, we stand beside patients, shoulder immense responsibility, work under relentless pressure, and risk our own well-being to save lives. Nursing educators are equally indispensable, shaping and preparing the next generation of nurses who will carry healthcare forward. Yet, despite our critical role, many nurses and nursing educators remain underpaid and undervalued. This is not merely a salary issue, it is an issue of respect, dignity, and justice. If those entrusted with caring for lives are denied fair compensation, what message does that send about the value of our profession ? We do not ask for privileges—we demand the recognition, respect, and fair pay that our service deserves.
The Government of Manipur and the Manipur Nursing Council must urgently intervene and standardize salary structures for the nurses and the nursing educator  in the private sector to ensure fair pay and professional respect. We are dealing with human lives, not statues—so how can insecurity and underpayment be justified in this profession? Nurses and nurse educators must be guaranteed job security, fair salaries, and respect, because they are the backbone of healthcare and the ones who directly safeguard lives and shape the future of the profession.
I have the option to stay silent, but I refuse to do so, because my voice is not for myself—it is for the dignity of my profession, for every struggling nurses and nursing educator today, and for the future nurses who must not inherit the same system of neglect, insecurity, and injustice.

The writer is Principal, Department of Nursing, Mahatma Gandhi University