The Hindu : National : Call off agitation, doctors told

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Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
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Call off agitation, doctors told

Staff Reporter

Government warns of taking ‘appropriate action’
Implementation of speciality cadres might be kept in abeyance

Thiruvananthapuram: The State government has decided to act tough with the striking government doctors and have warned of ‘appropriate action’ against those who do not attend field work, Sabarimala and VIP duties.

Further, the government has also threatened that the implementation of the speciality and administrative cadres – one of the main demands of government doctors – would be kept in abeyance till they ended their agitation.

The fact that no doctors reported for a VIP duty on October 1 to accompany the Governor has been taken seriously by the Government.

Issues of finance

Health Secretary Vishwas Mehta said that while the Government was fully committed to the implementation of the speciality/administrative cadre in order to bring in professionalism into health services, the decision had to be taken at the highest level due to the ‘substantial financial implications’ it involved.

“The matter has been taken up with the Finance Minister and it will take ‘some more time’ to solve the issues,” he said in a note.

It was unfortunate that the doctors decided to go ahead with the strike despite the appeal made by the Health Minister on October 1 to postpone the agitation.

The six-month-long agitation by doctors last year created a lot of embarrassment for the State at national-level review meetings due to Kerala’s sudden drop in immunisation level, the note said.

Doctors working in the public health sector could not take a stance that they would not perform the duties assigned to them. They should not forget the fact that their strike would create hardships to economically backward people who were solely dependent on the Health Services. The defiance of doctors could only be seen as a challenge against people.

‘Irreversible damage’

The strike could cause ‘irreversible damage’ to the health system for which the medical officers would be responsible.

The government requested the doctors to end their non-cooperation and said that it would have no option but to take ‘necessary steps’ to ensure that doctors attended to all duties attached to their positions.

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