The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Doctors’ stir may cost State dear

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 17, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Doctors’ stir may cost State dear

C. Maya

Thiruvananthapuram: The public health system could pay dearly for the non-cooperation strike which has been re-launched by the government doctors, over the issue of pay revision. The strike which began on October 1 was suspended temporarily by doctors on December 7, following the intervention of the High Court, which advised the government to reconsider their demands for pay revision. Though the working group constituted under the Health Secretary to look into the issue had met during this period, the doctors announced their resolve to resume agitation after the government informed the court that there was no possibility of a pay revision.

The working group is slated to meet again on Monday. However, the doctors, represented by the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association, said that they decided to resume the strike as they did not expect the government to change its stance.

The Health Department officials are quite worried over the turn of events. With the financial year drawing to an end, the last week of March is a crucial time for the department, where a lot of training programmes for doctors, camps and review meetings are usually held. “ Doctors have said that they will not attend meetings, receive funds or sign reports of field activities. Health system does not mean just patient-care activities; a lot of field work and planning has to happen for the system to run smoothly,” a senior official in the department pointed out.

Meanwhile, with reports of large number of viral fever cases coming from the northern parts of the State, officials are quite worried that the strike can affect the disease prevention and control activities in rural areas.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala