Amendments in Clinical Establishment act: Expert panel submits report to Jharkhand Govt

The committee prepared its report after five rounds of discussions among its members, he said.

Also Read:Jharkhand doctors' take out candle march, threatens to go on indefinite strike over pending demands

The committee also held discussions with Health Minister Banna Gupta and Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Arun Kumar Singh, he added.

The doctors’ organisations in the state have been seeking greater protection at the workplace with amendments to the Clinical Establishment Act. They also threatened to go on strike from March 13 over it.

Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Jharkhand secretary doctor Pradip Kumar Singh said, “We hope this time the Act would be amended as the government appears serious about the issue.” In 2014, the then Hemant Soren government proposed a similar amendment to the law, but it was sent to the Select Committee of the assembly. The amendment proposed by the Raghubar Das government in 2019 was also sent to the Select Committee.

The doctors’ organisations will meet on Friday to decide whether they would ahead with the indefinite strike from March 13.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that supporting the implementation of the Medical Protection Act and other demands, various doctors’ bodies of the state had staged a candle march at the headquarters of all 24 Jharkhand districts. The doctors have threatened to on an indefinite strike if their demands are not fulfilled.

Seven doctors were attacked in the last two months across the state but no action was taken, they alleged.

IMA Jharkhand president doctor AK Singh told PTI, “At Friday’s meeting, we will review the works done by the government regarding our demands. We will then take a call on whether we should go ahead with the indefinite strike.” The doctors in the state went on a day-long ‘work boycott’ on March 1 over their demands and also organised a candlelight march on March 5.