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Reduction in NPA: Patiala, Amritsar govt college doctors start indefinite protest
Ten medical dental teachers from departments will sit in protest every day, with complete shut-down of OPD and elective surgeries, the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association has announced.
Patiala Doctors, including dentists, posted at Government Medical and Dental Colleges in Patiala and Amritsar have started an indefinite protest against the failure of the Punjab government from Friday to restore their non-practice allowance (NPA) to its original form. With the implementation of the Punjab Sixth Pay Commission Report, the NPA has been de-linked from basic pay, which has been a pain point of doctors for over nearly two months now.
Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association (PSMDTA) general secretary Dr DS Bhullar said, “Ten medical dental teachers from departments will sit in protest every day, with complete shut-down of OPD and elective surgeries. The faculty will suspend administrative duties, routine medico-legal services and classroom teaching of medical students.”
The association has categorically requested the state government at all levels (group of ministers and the committee of principal secretaries) that that NPA of the state government doctors must be retorted to the original 25% basic pay, linked to the basic pay as earlier and should be considered as part of the pay for the calculation of dearness and house rent allowance etc. They doctors have also demanded restoration of the academic allowance, at ₹2,500, along with a conveyance allowance of ₹2,000.
“The meeting of the Group of Ministers and Committee of Principal Secretaries (finance, health and personnel) of the state government scheduled on July 22 was cancelled. Government doctors are also irked at this,” Dr Bhullar claimed.
Indian Medical Association, Patiala, with more than 700 allopathic doctors practising in the city has also extended full support to government doctors for the rectification of the NPA anomalies as demanded by PSMDTA, said Dr Neeraj Goyal, president, Patiala Chapter, IMA.
