Government doctors protest salary arrears; boycott work
Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com
12.01.2022
12.01.2022
Chennai: About 250 doctors from Chengalpet Government Medical College Hospital boycotted their work on Tuesday in protest against non-payment of stipends for over three months.
The house surgeons and postgraduate (non-service) doctors, who are posted in covid-19 wards, operation the- atres and most other departments in the hospital, said they would continue protests until their demands were met.
"Around 30 doctors among us have tested positive for covid-19. Without their monthly pay, they are struggling to meet their expenses and are seeking financial help from their friends and families," said Lakshmanan, a protesting doctor.
Since the infected doctors were in isolation, the workload on the available workforce had increased, he said adding that many continued to work on 48-hour shifts without taking adequate rest.
Amidst the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, the Chengalpattu hospital continues to perform all kinds of elective surgeries. Hence, doctors have to be available on call round the clock.
The doctors said, despite their working on a tight schedule, the government failed to respond to their plea on the release of stipends. Their representations to the college dean and directorate of medical education (DME) went unanswered.
Hence, they resorted to the boycott on Tuesday de- manding immediate release of the pending pay and urged the DME to ensure that they received their pay on time in the coming months.
The medical college dean J Muthukumaran said the bills were presented before the treasury on Tuesday and the money would be disbursed to their bank accounts before Wednesday afternoon.
Despite the protest, pa- tient care remained unaffected on Tuesday as service PGs, assistant professors, professors, and heads of departments were available to meet the needs of patients. The hospital currently has over 50 covid-19 patients.
House surgeons (or compulsory rotatory residential internship) were promised a monthly stipend of ₹25,000. PG doctors get ₹48,000₹
50,000 per month.
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