Tamil Nadu: Govt doctors wear demand badges to work, seek Govt's intervention

Chennai: Various government doctors in Chennai wore demand badges to work as part of their efforts to bring the government's attention to some of their long pending demands, including salary rises and long staff working hours. 

The doctors are planning to hold a demonstration later this month in Chennai as part of their protests. 

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In a statement released by the Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA), they observed that the Government Order (GO) 354, which guaranteed pay progression and should have been reviewed in 2017, was still pending. It observed that the delay has led to disappointment amongst government doctors who had played an essential role during the COVID-19 period. 

Condemning the working hours for staff of the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, the Association called it unfair. They observed that the issued GO 225 to increase the working hours goes against labor rules, reports the Hindu. 

Further, they demanded the government issue a GO that would grant increments for postgraduate medical students. 11000 doctors are enrolled in the Doctors Corpus Fund scheme, and the association demanded that the fund should be immediately granted to beneficiaries.

Therefore, it was decided by the government doctors from FOGDA that they would wear demand badges while going to work from Monday onwards to attract the government's attention. The doctors association is reported to have decided to hold a protest in Chennai on September 25.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported about a similar incident where the staff members at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram had threatened to stage protests if their concerns are not addressed following several deficiencies in infrastructure affecting patient care. Many doctors had already left the institutions due to irregularities and inconsistencies in the salary system and structure, arbitrary promotions, and complaints about inadequate facilities to meet the expanding demand.

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