Pay hike, staffing fix, day off- TN Doctors threaten series of protests over pending demands

The doctors are demanding that the Government appoint doctors as per the number of patients in the government hospitals. Further, they are also demanding a government job for the wife of the late Dr. Vivekanandan, who died while in service during the pandemic.

LCC has said that it had been urging the Government for pay-hike, as per Government order 354 and it said that not just doctors, but the postgraduates were also overworked and demanded adequate day-offs for the postgraduate students.

It has been alleged by committee that even though the State Government has been working on starting new medical colleges, it has not posted adequate medical personnel in government hospitals and primary health centres.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association had urged the State Health Department to take immediate action to fill up 1500 vacant doctor posts across the State.  Representatives from both TNGDA and the Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) held separate discussions with the Health Secretary P. Senthil Kumar and other senior officials to address the issue.

During the meeting, TNGDA raised multiple concerns, including the long-pending doctor vacancies, delays in promotions and transfer counselling for associate professors and professors, and the need for a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for doctors. Meanwhile, the FOGDA pressed for the proper implementation of Government Order (G.O.) 354, which pertains to pay scales and promotions, and also demanded a Rs.3,000 allowance for medical officers with MBBS qualifications who were not covered under G.O. 293.

Also Read: TN Doctors' bodies demand filling of 1500 vacant posts, better pay under GO 354