Kaski, Oct. 20 -- A major dispute over wages between nurses and private hospitals in Pokhara has entered its second week, crippling key medical services and sparking a nationwide debate over labour rights in the country's health sector.

Nurses at Manipal Teaching Hospital in Phulbari have been on strike since October 10, while their counterparts at Gandaki Medical College (GMC) joined the protest two days later. Over the weekend, nurses from Charak Memorial Hospital in Nagdhunga also walked out, expanding the protest that has pitted health workers against private hospital owners.

The nurses, supported by the Nursing Association of Nepal, are demanding that private hospitals pay salaries equivalent to those of government nurses, as manda...