Over 2500 Punjab Govt doctors to resume strike on January 20 over unmet demands
Chandigarh: Amidst ongoing talks between the finance department and the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), no significant outcomes have been achieved so far, prompting around 2,500 doctors in the state to resume their agitation on January 20th. The doctors are urging the government to fulfill its time-bound commitments.
In a recent press release, “Sound, well thought proposals prepared by the health department, aimed at pragmatically addressing the core issues of high attrition/low retention/low entry rates of doctors, which are primarily attributed to lack of security arrangements, stalled career progressions and increased workload due to an overall shortage of doctors, have been shared with the finance department. However, no notification has been issued to date, despite the fact that PCMSA has strongly endorsed the above proposals and has been pushing for their prompt implementation.”
While PCMSA appreciates the health department's efforts to recruit 304 medical officers and rationalize the PG policy to lure young doctors into the PCMS cadre, it strongly urges the government to issue notifications in line with the proposals prepared by the health department for the resolution of security and DACPs reinstatement issues. PCMSA is set to announce the detailed program of agitation at a state-level press conference to be held at Moga on 19th January.
PCMS cadre had proceeded on a week-long agitation in September last year demanding regular recruitment of PCMS doctors, reinstatement of the stalled DACPs, and adequate security arrangements. The protests were called off after an intervention by the Chief Minister of Punjab and the issuance of time-bound written assurances by the cabinet sub-committee of the government.
Meanwhile, PCMSA hopes that the government, in line with its steadfast commitment towards the overall improvement of public healthcare of the state, fulfils the written promises made in September last year and issues the necessary notifications as per the draft/proposals prepared by the health department, by this week, thereby preventing any kind of inconvenience to the people of the State.
PMedical Dialogues had earlier reported that PCMSA announced an indefinite strike across all public healthcare facilities of the state, starting from January 20th. The action came in response to the failure to fulfill time-bound commitments related to the rollout of a security framework and the reinstatement of the Dynamic AssuredCareer Progression (DACP) scheme. The members of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) held a meeting with officials from the Health and Finance Departments but the issue was not resolved.
