41 doctors retire, but will continue for 2 more months

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram:1.5.2020

As many as 41 doctors retired from the government medical college hospitals on Thursday.

The retired doctors and other health workers, however, will continue for two more months on an ad hoc basis.

This is the first batch of doctors who are retiring from the medical education service after the retirement age was increased to 62 from 60 in 2017.

There was hefty lobbying to extend the retirement age for the second time but the state government did not approve the proposal. More number of doctors who retired are from Thiruvananthapuram medical college: 13. In addition to this, joint director of medical education has also retired.

From Kottayam medical college hospital 11 doctors, from Kozhikode MCH five doctors, Alappuzha MCH two doctors, Kollam MCH two doctors, Thrissur MCH seven doctors and from Idukki MCH one doctor got retired.

The retirement age of doctors was increased to 62 from 60 in 2017 when the same bunch of senior doctors were due for retirement that year. However, a proposal was mooted to increase the retirement age to 65 along with the pay revision for the medical college doctors.

The finance department had opposed the proposal to increase the retirement age. The finance department had made it clear that it would affect the prospects of several junior doctors. The health department was also against increasing the retirement age further. The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) was also against increasing the retirement age.

Volunteers distribute food packets in Kottayam on Thursday

The most number of retirements, 13, were from Thiruvananthapuram Medical College. There were 11 from Kottayam, seven from Thrissur, five from Kozhikode, two each from Alappuzha and Kollam and one from Idukki Medical College that retired on Thursday