Haryana: Doctor's association to go on pen down strike on December 9

Chandigarh: Government doctors under the banner of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) have declared a pen-down strike for two hours on December 9 for their four-point-long pending demands. 

The strike has been called due to an acute shortage of specialist doctors in government hospitals in the state, lack of promotion and poor pay packages for the doctors. The association has also sought revision of the policy which makes it mandatory for the in-service doctors to submit two bonds of ₹1 crore each to pursue postgraduation courses.

It has expressed its deep dissatisfaction towards the government as its demands have remained unresolved for an extended period. Furthermore, it has highlighted that the government is prolonging the process of addressing their demands.

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The four key demands of the association include the formation of a specialist cadre for the doctors, a dynamic assured career progression (ACP) scheme (on a par with central government doctors), stoppage of direct recruitment of SMOs, and reduction in bond amount for PG courses.

Despite the state health department's claim of submitting a proposal to the state government for the promotion of 100 medical officers (MOs) to senior medical officers (SMOs), the doctors remain unimpressed with this promotion initiative. 

In an attempt to address this matter, a meeting was convened by the health department on Wednesday with the association members. Unfortunately, the meeting failed to yield a resolution as the doctors expressed their dissatisfaction with the government's proposal.

Dr Anil Yadav, general secretary of the association told the Indian Express, "We have not received a concrete assurance from the top officers on their key demands except on the issue of bond amount for postgraduate (PG) courses."

“As of now, we plan to go ahead with our previous call for the pen-down strike on December 9,” the association president, Dr Rajesh Khyalia, told the daily.

In the government-run hospitals of several districts in Haryana, including Faridabad, Fatehabad, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Palwal, Panipat, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat, Charkhi Dadri, and Yamunanagar, there is a notable absence of radiologists among Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) doctors. 

As per a news report in the Tribune, the association shared data highlighting the shortage of specialist doctors in a few districts of the state. The data shows Charkhi Dadri facing a shortage of specialists in paediatrics, psychiatry, surgery, and ENT. Bhiwani is without specialists in dermatology, ophthalmology, and ENT. Fatehabad lacks specialists in paediatrics, surgery, and orthopaedics, among others. Kaithal, Mahendragarh, and Nuh do not have specialists in gynaecology.

“We have been seeking four ACP increments at par with the doctors in Central government service and States like Bihar in the fourth, ninth, thirteenth, and twentieth year of the service. The doctors are currently paid three ACP increments in the fifth, tenth, and fifteenth year of their service. The proposal has been approved but is pending at the finance department. Similarly, the direct appointment of Senior Medical Officer be scrapped to provide more promotion opportunities to the doctors as most of them get only one promotion in the entire career,” HCMSA president Rajesh Khyalia told The Hindu.

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