The Hindu : Kerala News : Doctors to continue stir as talks fail

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Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007
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Kerala

Doctors to continue stir as talks fail

Staff Reporter

Another round of talks on Friday

Government ready to hike allowances of PG doctors
Doctors to go ahead with mass hunger strike, dharna

Thiruvananthapuram: Government doctors have decided to continue their non-cooperation strike after the discussions held here on Tuesday with the government proved to be inconclusive.

The doctors, led by the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), said the government did not have anything new to offer them and that the discussions had come to a nought.

“The government did not have any special package or allowances for us as had been speculated in the media. Apart from a promise that they will implement the specialty cadre, and give more allowances to PG doctors, the government has nothing for MBBS doctors. We will continue with our agitation and will accordingly boycott VVIP duties and all extra work that we are expected to do in the public health system,” KGMOA president Sunny P. Orathel, said.

Another round of discussions will be held between the KGMOA and the Health and Finance Ministers on Friday.

The striking doctors have all along maintained that they are interested only in securing benefits for the entry cadre.

No new pay scales

And what had irked the KGMOA is the fact that while the government, in Tuesday’s discussions, offered to hike the allowances given to postgraduate doctors by as much as three times what they were getting now, it had nothing to offer for the doctors entering the Health Service. There was no mention of new pay scales at all.

“We have told the government that we are prepared to surrender all allowances given to PG doctors and that we only want a more respectable salary for the young medical graduates entering Service,” Dr. Orathel said.

“The government seems to think that by offering some allowances to specialist doctors, it can better the public health system. Out of the 4,000-dd doctors in the Health Service, only 1,800 are specialist doctors. The backbone of our public health system is the thousands of MBBS doctors serving in the periphery, whose work in the field has translated into excellent health indices for the State. By not giving any incentives to these doctors and keeping them demoralised, the government is eroding the health system,” he added.

Meanwhile, the doctors will go ahead with the mass hunger strike and dharna that they had planned to hold on November 3 in front of the Secretariat. No medical services in government hospitals, except the emergency services, will function on November 3.

Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac and the Health and Finance Secretaries took part in the discussion from the government’s side.

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