District doctors, who have been protesting against the reduction in non-practising allowance under the Sixth Pay Commission, called off their strike after being assured by principal health secretary Hussan Lal that their demands would be fulfilled.
Dr Rohit Rampal, who was leading the protests in the district, said, “We held a meeting with the principal health secretary today. He assured us that our demands will be fulfilled. We have called off the strike and hope that the authorities will roll back their decision.”
“NPA comprised 25% of our basic salary. However, the Sixth Pay Commission, which aims to better our pay scale, has reduced the component to 20% of our basic salary. It has even de-linked NPA from the basic salary,” Dr Rampal added.
Earlier during the day, members of the Joint Punjab Government Doctors Coordination Committee, comprising general physicians, specialists, rural medical officers, homeopaths, and ayurveda specialists, staged a protest at the civil hospital.
On the call of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association, several services such as outpatient departments (OPDs), inpatient departments (IPDs), unique IDs for persons with disabilities (UDID), Ayushman Bharat - Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana (AB-SSBY), and elective surgeries remained suspended as around 400 doctors employed at the civil hospitals in Ludhiana, Khanna and Jagraon, and 10 community health centres boycotted work. Government-run dispensaries remained closed as well.
A visit to the civil hospital at 11 am revealed that the few patients, who had turned up at the hospital, had to return home without getting treated as no doctor was available due to the strike. Kavita Kumari from Shahpur Road, who visited the mother and child hospital with her husband for check-up, was asked to visit again as doctors were not available.
{{/usCountry}}A visit to the civil hospital at 11 am revealed that the few patients, who had turned up at the hospital, had to return home without getting treated as no doctor was available due to the strike. Kavita Kumari from Shahpur Road, who visited the mother and child hospital with her husband for check-up, was asked to visit again as doctors were not available.
{{/usCountry}}50-year-old Bhagat Ram, who works in the factory, visited the civil hospital for treatment on Monday.
He said, “I had slipped from the roof and suffered injuries so was rushed to the hospital but because the doctors were observing a strike, I had to go to a private hospital. I don’t understand why the government wants to implement rules that are not in favour of the employees. These protests and strikes ultimately make the common mam suffer.”