Haryana Govt doctors strike over direct SMO recruitment, specialist doctors refuse to join

Karnal: A possible split in the health cadre in Haryana has emerged after the government doctors announced a strike demanding the scrapping of direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs), and the directly recruited postgraduate specialist doctors have disagreed and chosen not to join the strike.

Doctors under the Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association have announced that they will suspend all healthcare services on December 8 and 9 to oppose the direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs), a process that has not taken place since 2012. However, directly recruited specialist doctors hold a different view.

Distancing themselves from the protest, these directly recruited specialist doctors stated that direct recruitment of SMOs is necessary for them because several government-approved demands are still pending. Among them is the creation of a specialist cadre in the Health Department, which was approved in 2024 but has not been implemented yet. They said this delay has caused frustration and that direct recruitment is essential to protect their career growth.

The specialist doctors clarified that they are not against promoting medical officers to SMO posts, but said their own rights should not be compromised. They assured that they will continue providing uninterrupted healthcare services across the state and will not participate in the strike.

Also read- Haryana Govt doctors warn of medical service shutdown on December 8, 9

Medical Dialogues few days ago, reported that the Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association issued a stern warning to the state government, announcing that all healthcare services, including outpatient services, emergency care, post-mortems, labour rooms, and surgical units, will be suspended on December 8 and 9 if their longstanding demands are not addressed.

The association further warned that an open-ended strike would commence from December 10 if no resolution is reached. The decision was taken during a meeting of the Association’s State Action Committee, where members expressed deep anger over what they termed an uncaring and indifferent attitude of the government towards legitimate concerns of the HCMS cadre.

Doctors said they felt deceived as assurances made by the government over a year ago remain unfulfilled. Among the major unresolved issues is the earlier assurance to halt direct hiring of Senior Medical Officers and instead fill all such positions through promotions after necessary changes in service regulations. The association pointed out that, despite this promise, out of the sanctioned SMO posts, 200 continue to lie vacant, with 160 of them still earmarked for direct recruitment as the required rule amendments have not been carried out.

On the other hand, directly recruited specialist doctors argue that stopping direct recruitment goes against their own long-standing demands.

A postgraduate specialist on the condition of anonymity told The Tribune, "We are not against the promotion of any medical officer to SMO, but our rights should not be compromised. Direct recruitment of SMOs must be implemented to protect our career prospects."

He said the Finance Department issued a notification on August 16, 2024, approving the creation of a specialist cadre with a defined pay band. The notification also mentioned ending six increments once the cadre came into force. However, the cadre has still not been implemented.

Specialists argue that at the entry level, doctors holding postgraduate qualifications are treated at par with MBBS-qualified medical officers in both designation and pay scale — an issue they describe as fundamentally unfair.

"The pay scale for an MBBS-qualified Medical Officer and that for a PG specialist is the same. This disparity discourages specialists and is one of the major reasons the government finds it difficult to retain them," said another specialist.

They further highlighted that the specialist cadre was introduced after prolonged efforts and protests by the HCMSA itself, and was expected to strengthen healthcare services by deploying qualified specialists to district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and first referral units. They said states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have already implemented such cadres and questioned why Haryana continues to delay it.

A specialist said, "Finance Department notification of the specialist cadre resulted in the stopping of the increment, but practically the cadre was also not implemented."

The issue was raised in the Haryana Assembly by Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra. In her response, Health Minister Arti Singh Rao acknowledged that while the Finance Department had approved a cadre-specific ACP for the clinical specialist cadre, its implementation required amendments to the Haryana Civil Medical (Group-A) Service Rules, 2014, which were under process.

"We want both our demands to be accepted without further delay," said the specialist doctors.

Speaking to The Tribune, Director General of Health Services Dr Manish Bansal said, "The matter remains pending with the Finance Department. Multiple demands were raised, and these were considered. Some were rejected. The notification for specialist and non-specialist cadres was issued, but disagreements among doctors halted its implementation. Discussions are ongoing. Many specialists support direct SMO recruitment and urge all groups to arrive at a consensus."

Also read- Haryana Govt doctors stage 2-hour pen-down strike, OPD services suspended