Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Government doctors on the warpath

Staff Reporter

Protest against failure to implement specialty cadre postings

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Doctors working in Government Health Service will boycott the monthly review meetings of the Health Department in protest against the Government's failure to implement the administrative and specialty cadre postings, despite a promise to implement the same by April 1 this year.

The Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association said that the doctors had decided to go on the offensive after waiting for several months in vain for the Government to fulfil the promises it had made to Government doctors during their months-long strike in April last year.

The Government doctors had been promised by Health Minister P. K. Sreemathy a nominal hike in pay and the implementation of the administrative and specialty cadre posting, before the KGMOA agreed to withdraw its strike.

The KGMOA officials said that even after eight months, the Government had not delivered any of the promises. Instead it chose to increase the working hours of doctors by an hour without even discussing the matter with them. The KGMOA had given the strike notice on May 22 that Government doctors would boycott the medical officers' working conference.

These are crucial meetings as far as the Health department is concerned as most public health programmes, including preventive strategies and awareness programmes, are chalked out. The KGMOA said the Government, which was offering to pay Rs.500 to Rs.700 daily to retired doctors for serving in chikungunya-affected districts, had not offered even this amount as pay hike to the doctors in Health Service.

Meanwhile, the Health Minister is meeting KGMOA officials on Saturday to resolve the current stalemate.

Following the strike notice, an eight-member committee headed by the Health Secretary was set up two days ago to implement the GO on administrative and specialty cadre posting. The committee, which held its first meeting on Friday, has entrusted Director of Health Service T. K. Kuttamani to submit the list of eligible doctors.

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