Govt docs protesting for pay hike boycott MCI inspections
‘Will Face Disciplinary Action If They Bunk Today’
Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com
Chennai: TIMES OF INDIA 07.09.2018
The ongoing strike by government doctors seeking a pay hike became more intense on Thursday when faculty members of the Madurai and Tirunelveli medical colleges refused to appear before the Medical Council of India’s inspection committee for a head count ahead of an increase of 100 seats each in the two institutions.
The joint action committee of the government doctors’ association spearheading the strike told director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe on Thursday that they would not be attending the mandatory head count before the inspection committee. The two-member panel inspected hospitals, classrooms and labs at the two colleges and waited with the dean for the faculty members to turn up but there was a no-show.
“Head count is a mandatory part of the inspection and we may lose these seats if the doctors don’t appear. Fortunately, the team has agreed to stay back tomorrow as well. We have told the doctors that disciplinary action will be taken if they skip the inspection,” said Joe.
The committee chairman Dr K Senthil, who also heads the government doctors’ association, said doctors will skip the head count on Friday if the government did not meet their demands.
Government doctors have not entered classrooms of medical colleges across the state since Monday. They have also stopped signing attendance registers, boycotted all government meetings and audits, refused to sit on the medical board or send daily reports, and stopped signing papers for pregnant women to get money from the Muthulakshmi Maternal Benefit Scheme.
“We will continue the stir until our demands are met. But we have promised that treatment of patients will not be affected,” he said.
The salary for doctors in state and central services is the same when they join duty, but doctors in central government services receive promotions in four, nine, 13 and 20 years, compared to eight, 15, 17 and 20 years in the state government.
“We start with the same salary but there is a difference in our basic pay from the fourth year. We understand we won’t get the allowances as we are allowed to do private practice, but we are demanding parity in basic pay,” he said.
Doctors in government service also get a salary that is lower than lecturers or professors at arts/science colleges, although government doctors work for at least 50 hours a week compared to 32 hours of the teaching faculty.
On Tuesday, members of the committee met health minister C Vijayabaskar and senior department officials including health secretary J Radhakrishnan to press their demands.
“We have been demanding this for more than a decade. Even this boycott happened after three months’ notice. Neither the minister nor officials promised a hike. We will withdraw our strike if they come out with an announcement on revised pay,” said Dr A Ramalingam from the Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
‘Will Face Disciplinary Action If They Bunk Today’
Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com
Chennai: TIMES OF INDIA 07.09.2018
The ongoing strike by government doctors seeking a pay hike became more intense on Thursday when faculty members of the Madurai and Tirunelveli medical colleges refused to appear before the Medical Council of India’s inspection committee for a head count ahead of an increase of 100 seats each in the two institutions.
The joint action committee of the government doctors’ association spearheading the strike told director of medical education Dr A Edwin Joe on Thursday that they would not be attending the mandatory head count before the inspection committee. The two-member panel inspected hospitals, classrooms and labs at the two colleges and waited with the dean for the faculty members to turn up but there was a no-show.
“Head count is a mandatory part of the inspection and we may lose these seats if the doctors don’t appear. Fortunately, the team has agreed to stay back tomorrow as well. We have told the doctors that disciplinary action will be taken if they skip the inspection,” said Joe.
The committee chairman Dr K Senthil, who also heads the government doctors’ association, said doctors will skip the head count on Friday if the government did not meet their demands.
Government doctors have not entered classrooms of medical colleges across the state since Monday. They have also stopped signing attendance registers, boycotted all government meetings and audits, refused to sit on the medical board or send daily reports, and stopped signing papers for pregnant women to get money from the Muthulakshmi Maternal Benefit Scheme.
“We will continue the stir until our demands are met. But we have promised that treatment of patients will not be affected,” he said.
The salary for doctors in state and central services is the same when they join duty, but doctors in central government services receive promotions in four, nine, 13 and 20 years, compared to eight, 15, 17 and 20 years in the state government.
“We start with the same salary but there is a difference in our basic pay from the fourth year. We understand we won’t get the allowances as we are allowed to do private practice, but we are demanding parity in basic pay,” he said.
Doctors in government service also get a salary that is lower than lecturers or professors at arts/science colleges, although government doctors work for at least 50 hours a week compared to 32 hours of the teaching faculty.
On Tuesday, members of the committee met health minister C Vijayabaskar and senior department officials including health secretary J Radhakrishnan to press their demands.
“We have been demanding this for more than a decade. Even this boycott happened after three months’ notice. Neither the minister nor officials promised a hike. We will withdraw our strike if they come out with an announcement on revised pay,” said Dr A Ramalingam from the Stanley Medical College and Hospital.
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