Doctors of the government in Haryana organized a two-hour pen down strike on Thursday, halting the Outpatient Department (OPD) services as a result of the failure by the state government to address their long pending demands. The Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association, which represents the government medical officers in the state, called the strike held between 9 am and 11 am. Though emergency, labour room and surgical services went on smoothly, OPDs in various government hospitals were still at a loss to patients.
The major complaint of the doctors is the supposed intention of the state to continue with direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs). This practice was already stopped by instructions given by then health minister Anil Vij earlier before HCMS Association president Dr. Rajesh Khyalia. The government had also accepted last year that SMOs would not be appointed directly. The government would be resorting to direct recruitment once again which Dr. Khyalia said was unacceptable despite the repeated assurance to do so.
According to the association, the direct employment of SMOs would grossly hamper the career advancement of hundreds of in-service medical officers who have served more than 20 years of service and are yet to get promotions. They caution such a move would result in stagnation in the cadres and this would be a serious constraint in regards to promotion. The promotion of most doctors would be limited to one promotion of their career and many would need to retire on voluntary basis because of the absence of development, according to Dr. Khyalia.
The other priority requirement is the introduction of the assured career progression scheme which despite the Chief Minister approval, is reported not to have gone beyond the bureaucratic stage. The physicians indicate that they have not received any notification yet putting their career progression in doubt.
Physicians in a large number of the government hospitals in the districts took part in the protest. The HCMS Association announced that it will make a decision on the next step to take in case the government does not respond positively to their demands in the near future.
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