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Delinking of NPA: Doctors boycott work at Ludhiana’s govt hospitals
All outpatient, inpatient and non-emergency services, including elective surgeries, will remain suspended from Monday to Wednesday at civil hospitals of Ludhiana, Khanna and Jagraon
Up in arms against delinking of non-practicing allowance (NPA) from basic pay in line with the Sixth Pay Commission recommendations, government doctors at the civil hospitals in Ludhiana, Khanna and Jagraon, and 10 community health centres have boycotted work for three days.
All outpatient, inpatient and non-emergency services, including elective surgeries, will remain suspended from Monday to Wednesday with over 400 Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) doctors joining the protest on the call of the Joint Government Doctors’ Coordination Committee.
Only emergency, Covid, post-mortem and medico/vetro-legal services will continue uninterrupted.
With no access to OPD services, hundreds of patients returned dejected from the civil hospitals on Monday. To register their protest, PCMS Association and joint committee members also locked the office of the civil surgeon for three days.
Association member Dr M Bhasin alleged, “By cutting down the salaries of doctors, the government is turning healthcare over to private hands. We are not protesting for individual but public interest.”
“Low-paying government jobs will not be lucrative for doctors. This will naturally impact the government health sector and the underprivileged will suffer,” said Dr Harpreet Sekhon, another member.
Committee member Dr Rohit Rampal said, “Despite our protests, the government remains unmoved. So, we have decided to stop the functioning of the civil surgeon’s office as well.”
Vets on strike for two days
Joining the protest, veterinarians at 110 government dispensaries across the district have also proceeded on strike till Tuesday.
On Monday, they locked the office of deputy director, animal husbandry department in Civil Lines, and suspended work from 10am to noon.
Only vetro-legal, emergency and postmortem services were provided. Department’s deputy director Dr Paramdeep Singh Walia and assistant director Dr Neelam Grover also participated in the protest organised by the Punjab State Veterinary Officers’ (PSVO) Association.
“Veterinarians have been protesting for over five weeks, but the government has failed to pay heed. Delinking of NPA will result in reduction of basic pay. Further the allowances and incentives, calculated on the basis of basic pay, will also be reduced,” said association general secretary Dr Darshan Kheri.
District president Dr Chatinder Singh said, “Our demands are genuine. We will intensify the agitation if the cabinet sub-committee formed by the government does not respond positively by Tuesday.”
Besides the PCMS and PSVO doctors, members of the Rural Medical Officers Association, Punjab Dental Medical Officers Association and Punjab Ayurveda Officers Association are also protesting against the delinking of the NPA.
