Rajasthan doctors on one day mass leave, govt invokes ESMA

Jaipur: Government doctors in the state went on a one-day mass leave to press for their long-pending demands, prompting the government to invoke the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) for three months.

Nearly 10,000 doctors in the state are demanding increase in their rural allowance, separate allowance for treatment of infectious diseases, timely promotion and rectification in salary discrepancies, along with over two dozen other demands.

"We were forced to go on leave as the state government continuously neglected our demands," said Dr Ajay Chaudhary, president, All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors Association.

He said the association had submitted 33 demands to the health department and a meeting was held with its officials on August 29 which ended with an in-principle agreement.

"The officials had sought 15 more days to act on it, but that time lapsed. So we went on one-day mass leave today," he said.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf assured the doctors that the government is working to address their issues and appealed them to resume their works.