Following intense protests for almost two months, private hospital nurses in Kerala called off their strike on July 16 after the government agreed to enforce a hike in their minimum pay to Rs 20,000.

The decision was taken in a meeting of the representatives of nurses’ associations with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at his office on July 20 evening. The Chief Minister’s office said that the decision on the wage hikes was unanimous.

“The decision was unani-mous. It has been decided to hike the minimum pay of nurses working in hospitals with a bed strength of up to 50 to Rs 20,000. The government will appoint a committee to decide on the salary of nurses working in hospitals where the number of beds is more than 50,” a statement from the Chief Minister’s office said.

“There will be timely increase in the stipend of nursing trainees. The committee will also consider and submit recommendations on the trainees’ stipend and the period of training. The committee will submit its report in a month,” the statement added.