Manipur Govt doctors call off 2 day OPD boycott after meeting Chief Minister

Imphal: The protesting doctors of Manipur have finally decided to hold their plans of indefinite strike based on their conversation with Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh after a day of OPD work boycott. 

Asking the government to consider their four-point charter of demands, the Manipur doctors, coming under the banner of the All Manipur Health Services Doctors’ Association (AMHSDA), boycotted Outpatient Department services (OPDs) in all government-run hospitals on 9th January. 

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The doctors raised four primary demands including time-bound promotion, an extension of the retirement age of specialist and non-specialist doctors up to 65 years, the inclusion of non-practising allowance in the basic pay with effect from January 1, 2016, as per the 7th Pay Commission, and amendment of the Manipur Health Service Rules 1982, reports The Indian Express.

AMHSDA representatives met CM N Biren Singh on Monday. The doctors were supposed to boycott OPD the very next day also. However, after discussion with the CM they decided to withhold the agitation.

All the demands have been accepted by the government as of now except the demand of increasing the superannuation age of doctors. The association's general secretary, Dr. Lolee P. Mao informed North East Live, " First of all I want to thank the general public of Manipur for understanding and bearing the sufferings with the doctors till today. Our 4 point demands, which was proposed to the government, it has almost been concluded, except one point which is the superannuation age of the doctors to 65 years for specialist as well as non specialist doctors."

The association announced an indefinite strike on January 5 and all the OPD services in all government hospitals were suspended from Monday. The doctors decided to protest after the government failed to take note of their demands.

Dr. Lolee further claimed that the government had shown little interest in the doctors' demands. According to a daily, following a cabinet meeting in December 2022, where the government promised to address the four demands, the association postponed its decision to observe a two-day OPD shutdown before starting an indefinite strike on December 27. On January 2, the cabinet met once more, but Dr. Mao claims that the demands were not addressed.

In a statement, the group said that at the request of government authorities, it had re-considered the original eight-point charter of demands and reduced it to four basic demands. The government was criticized for failing to care for the MHS doctors for more than two years and for treating their "fundamental rights" as unreasonable.

On August 30, 2017, the first BJP government in Manipur increased the age for the superannuation of doctors to 65 years. However, on January 17, 2020, the same government reversed its decision.