Healthcare services in Tamil Nadu were hit for the third day on Wednesday as government nurses continued their strike. Over 3,000 contract nurses stayed put on the premises of the Department of Medical and Rural Health Services in Chennai, demanding higher salaries, permanent jobs and eight-hour work shifts, Mirror Now reported.

Two rounds of discussions between the protesting nurses and the government have failed so far. This has affected services at several government hospitals and primary health centres.

“We work for about 12 hours a day and get just Rs 250 per day, like daily-wage labourers,” a nurse told The Times of India. “There is no travel allowance even if we are deputed to another PHC [primary health centre] for a short while.”