The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Doctors reject pay package

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Saturday, Nov 10, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Doctors reject pay package

Staff Reporter

Thiruvananthapuram: Government doctors on Friday rejected outright the ‘special pay package’ offered by Health Minister P.K. Sreemathy, which they said gave no benefits to the class as a whole.

“The government has not offered anything new today. Whatever it has offered might give a few benefits to doctors with PG qualification but offers nothing for the MBBS doctors who are the backbone of the public health system,” KGMOA State president Sunny P. Orathel told The Hindu.

The government on Friday announced that specialty and administrative cadre in the Health Services would be implemented with effect from April 1 and that 66 new posts - 16 chief consultants and 50 senior consultants - would be created. However, the KGMOA pointed out that even though 66 new posts had been announced, there was no commensurate change in the pay structure.

No benefits

“The government has only implemented the specialty and administrative cadres in name. Apart from the fact that some designations will be changed, doctors are not getting any monetary benefit. The Vishwas Mehta committee recommended four cadre with separate pay structures for each. The Government has nothing to say about that,” Dr. Orathel said.

The KGMOA made it clear that it would not accept specialty cadre without any pay revision. The government’s unilateral declaration of the ‘package’ also had not gone down well with the doctors. They are, however, open to further talks as the government has offered to withdraw the order withholding the salaries of doctors.

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