Peeved over the Punjab Government’s apathetic attitude towards their demands, the doctors in Punjab will observe a three-day strike, starting from July 12, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The doctors in the state have been protesting against the State’s Sixth Pay Commission’s recommendations on delinking of Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA) from the basic pay, reduction in Non-Practising Allowance from 25 to 20 percent, among other things.
The strike call was given by the Joint Government Doctors Coordination Committee (JGDCC), that includes the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), and is supported by the Punjab State Veterinary Officers Association (PSVOA), Punjab Dental Doctors Association, Rural Medical Officers Association and Punjab Medical and Dental Teachers Association.
The decision to observe the strike was taken during the JGDCC’s meeting on Saturday and it was decided to shutdown health and veterinary services, including outpatient department (OPDs), from July 12 to 14.
The Committee decided that all the doctors would boycott the OPDs in government hospitals, but would run parallel OPDs in the lawns of the hospitals so that the needy persons are not deprived of services.
While OPDs will be shut, emergency services, COVID, post mortem and medico and veteran legal services will be continued during the strike as well.
The doctors had previously postponed the strike due to assurance given by the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu. The Minister had recently assured the joint committee of resolving the issue of NPA within a week but no action has been taken by the Government in this regard.
It has been learnt that the Group of Ministers had received a report from the officials’ committee and was going to meet next week.
IMMEDIATELY RESTORE DOCTORS’ ALLOWANCES BY ACCEPTING THEIR DEMANDS: AAP
“Congress-led Punjab Government is responsible for the decision of all the Government doctors in Punjab to go on strike by squandering doctors’ many financial benefits in the name of the Pay Commission,” said AAP’s Punjab unit president Bhagwant Mann, while demanding to accept the demands of the protesting doctors while also restoring their allowances immediately.
Mann, along with party’s Doctor Wing state president Dr Ravjot, alleged that the State Government had reduced the non-practicing allowance of the doctors from 25 to 20 percent, which AAP strongly condemns.
Dr Ravjot said that when the State Government doctors opposed the Government’s decision and fought for their rights, “the dictatorial Capt Amarinder Singh intentionally transferred doctor leaders to far-flung places so that they could not fight against his dictatorship. Such treatment of doctors serving the people of Punjab at the risk of their lives during the COVID period is highly reprehensible”.
They demanded that the doctors should be given the same basic salary and allowances as before and the transfers of the struggling doctors should be cancelled immediately so that all the doctors can treat the people during the third wave without any worries.