Doctors protest at Panchkula Civil Hospital on Thursday. (Express photo: Jaipal Singh)The Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) went on a day-long strike Thursday, asking for their demands, which have already been approved, to be implemented.
As many as 90 doctors of the Civil Hospital of Panchkula City and 134 from across Panchkula district participated in the strike. The association boasts of a 100 per cent strike rate. All OPDs remained shut and only the emergency ward, labour room and post-mortem remained functional.
The association has made two demands in their letter to the chief secretary of the health department. Firstly, they want a special allowance to all specialist doctors, including those who have done their MS and MDs. According to present rules, all MBBS as well as MS & MD doctors, are on the same pay scale. They demanded an increase of Rs 30,000 for doctors who have a post-graduate degree.
The second demand is about the Assured Career Progression (ACP) the doctors get as the system of promotion in their field is very slow. The ACP is given to compensate for that. ACP is a financial increment they presently get after a period of 5 years each, for three terms. The association has now demanded four progressions, the first after 4 years, the second after 9 years, the third after 13 years and the last one after 19 years.
The Civil Hospital, Panchkula, saw as many as 900 patients Thursday and none of them were sent home untreated, said PMO Gopal Bharadwaj. He further said he and the CMO themselves saw many patients in various OPDs so that they face least inconvenience.
Bharadwaj condemned the way the strike was conducted, saying that they only received a notice from the doctors 12 hours before they went on strike. “There can be better ways to strike, that does not include sending back patients who are in need of medical attention.”
He cited the case of a 65-year-old man, who had come to the hospital with severe knee pain, but there was no one to attend to it.
Dr Amarjeet, general secretary of Panchkula HCMSA and emergency in-charge of Civil Hospital, Panchkula, said, “We kept all departments that see serious cases open and running. Emergency was kept open, post-mortems were conducted keeping in mind that families who have already lost their closed ones should not suffer.”
Another doctor said, “Of course there will be inconvenience, that is the whole point. If the public is not in-inconvenienced do you really think the government will pay attention?”
Dr Amarjeet said, “The strike has been called off for now as the state health minister has assured us the matter will be taken care of within two days. If that does not happen, doctors will again sit on a strike Monday onwards.”
The strike comes at a time when Haryana Assembly elections are round the corner, with many impatient to get their demands approved before a code of conduct is enforced.
