Kerala Govt Revokes Order Assigning Pilgrimage Duty to Resident Doctors after Protest
Thiruvananthapuram: Responding to the protest by the resident doctors in Karnataka, the Kerala Government has revoked its order wherein it had assigned pilgrimage duty to the resident doctors of the State.
This comes after the doctors under the umbrella of Kerala Medical Post Graduate Association (KMPGA) had decided not to join Sabarimala duty and the association had also written to the Joint Director of Medical Education regarding the issue.
Alleging that the Government is exploiting them instead of appointing senior specialist doctors in the medical centers set up at various places, the association stated in the letter, "The KMPGA has decided not to comply with the decision to send PG residents for Sabarimala duty disguised as "Specialists". We have been exploited to out limits and this has to stop. We have sacrificed our specialty training period for the past 2 years as the state was in crisis during these testing times."
"We have been taking extra duties as there are only 2 batches at present and the NEET PG counseling is yet to commence. Instead of posting proper specialists holding a post-graduate qualification in the respective specialty from DME or DHS, the authorities are trying to play a gimmick using the existing, heavily overworked, PG students," further added the letter.
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the PG residents have worked hard and taken extra duties including the COVID-duties, because that is what the situation had demanded.
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, now the State Government has decided to set up the emergency virtual medicine department at Sabarimala. For this purpose, the Government is planning to pool the PG resident doctors from various medical colleges of the state and utilize their service.
The daily further adds that such a step has been taken by the Government as there is a shortage of permanent staff in the emergency medicine department and that is why, the service of the PG medicos is being used.
However, after the resident doctors of the State decided to raise their voice against this decision, the Government has revoked the order and replaced the resident doctors with the faculty members of medical colleges, Dr Naveen R, state secretary of KMPGA informed Medical Dialogues.
"We have worked really hard during the COVID-19 pandemic and this has hampered our education as well. Now, the Government's decision of assigning pilgrimage duty to the resident doctors would have been unfair for both the doctors and the people who would be expecting the service of specialist doctors," said Dr. Naveen.
"However, we are happy with the Government's decision of revoking the order and replacing the resident doctor with faculty members," he added while commenting on the latest development.
Also Read: Overburdened with COVID duties, PG doctors in Kerala go on strike
