Punjab Govt to enhance healthcare safety, deploy security guards
Chandigarh: The Punjab government has recently approved the phased deployment of security guards at public health facilities from October 6. The decision was conveyed during a meeting of a delegation of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), including Principal Secretary Health, Kumar Rahul, and Director of Health Services, Dr Hitinder Kaur.
According to the plan, security guards will be deployed at all district hospitals starting from October 6, while the deployment at sub-divisional hospitals will be carried out before December 31, 2025. All the 24x7 community health centres (CHCs) will be covered by March 31, 2026.
On this, the finance department has already approved the budgetary provision for the hiring of security guards, and the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC) will release dedicated funds for the purpose. It was also clarified that user charges would not be utilised for this scheme, as reported by TOI.
During the meeting, several long-pending demands of the PCMSA were also discussed. The govt committed to implementing the Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) scheme by October 17 and stated that a proposal to extend MACP benefits to batches recruited from 2020 onwards would be sent to the finance department next week for notification.
PCMSA president Dr Akhil Sarin said the decisions marked a significant breakthrough in government-PCMSA negotiations. He said the measures, when implemented, would address long-pending concerns while improving healthcare delivery and workplace conditions across Punjab's public hospitals.
Moreover, on rationalisation of postgraduate (PG) allowances for doctors recruited before 2016, including those before 2001, the govt agreed to initiate fresh proceedings in light of discrepancies in disbursement.
Pay protection for Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) merged into the PCMS cadre has already been approved, while rationalisation of the VVIP duties was completed, and a notification is expected next week, it was informed.
On the contentious issue of non-practising allowance (NPA) during PG courses, the additional director, health, Dr Akshay, has been tasked with examining the feasibility of withdrawing the litigation pending in the LPA (letter patent appeal).
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