2,500 docs go on strike in Haryana, OPDs in all hospitals remain shut

Out-patient departments (OPD) in government hospitals across Haryana were closed on Thursday as doctors held a strike in demand of better pay. Patients at the emergency ward, however, were attended to and deliveries were conducted, doctors said.

The Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA), which has a representation of around 2,500 doctors in the state, has been demanding additional increments for specialist doctors and assured career progression (ACP) on a par with other states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi, according to members.

The association had earlier planned to start an indefinite strike from Monday.

However, after a meeting on Thursday evening with state government officials, who reassured that their demands would be met, the strike has been called off, said members.

In Gurugram, around 60 medical officers and specialists held a strike, according to the association. The OPDs at the Civil Hospital in Sector 10, the Sector 31 polyclinic, Civil Hospitals at Sohna, Pataudi and other 14 public health centres across the district weren’t available, the doctors said.

However, doctors working on a contract were deputed to attend to patients at the OPD of the Sector 10 hospital. Patients who needed basic medical check-ups and routine examinations were being attended to, said officials of the district health department.

“Specialised services, such as consultations for the eye, ENT treatment, orthopaedics, etc, weren’t available due to the strike. Those who needed basic check-ups and X-rays were provided the same by doctors working on a contractual basis at the hospitals,” said Dr Keshav Sharma, district head of the association.

Sachin Kumar, a 48-year-old resident of Sector 11, said, “I had gone to the Sector 10 hospital to seek treatment for my knee pain, but was told to return on Friday as no specialist was available.”

This is the second time in a week that the doctors’ body held a statewide strike. On August 31, OPDs across the state were closed for two hours — between 8am and 10am — as doctors observed a pen-down strike.

According to members of the HCMSA, the state government had agreed to their demands during a meeting chaired by the chief minister in July this year, but is yet to deliver.

“The state government again promised us on Thursday that our demands will be met at the earliest. We have decided to call off the strike after a detailed discussion,” said Dr MP Singh, vice-president of the association.

Dr SB Kamboj, director general, health services, Haryana, also said that the demands would be met. “The doctors have decided to call off the strike. Their demands are being looked into,” he said.

First Published: Sep 06, 2019 11:23 IST