Shimla: Continuing their long-standing protests against the government's indifference over their pending demands, the faculty members of around four medical colleges in Himachal Pradesh were recently seen taking a mass casual leave.
The faculty members of Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in Shimla, Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda (Kangra), Government Medical College in Hamirpur, and Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College in Chamba took the mass leave to express their protest.
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The doctors of IGMC have long been demanding the provision of academic allowance, a time-bound promotion in medical colleges and are opposing the deputation of doctors from IGMC to other medical colleges, which the team had previously reported as well. In addition to that, they are also protesting the extension and re-employment of faculty members. State Association of Medical and Dental Teachers (SAMDCOT) president Dr Rajesh Sood had earlier warned of going on a mass casual leave on October 4 if their long-standing demands were not met by the government.
Speaking to Tribune India about the mass leave, Dr. Sood said, "With around 500 senior doctors not available, the OPD services were affected but the emergency services were not hampered."
Further, expressing his apologies, Dr. Sood added, "We apologise to patients, who suffered on account of our action. All senior doctors will continue to perform their duties wearing black badges." He stated that the health minister assured him to look into why no action was taken over the doctor's demands that the government had agreed to.
Dr. Sood had earlier said, "The government had assured us that our demands would be approved and had set up a committee more than six months back for recommending our demands. Unfortunately, the committee has conducted just one meeting in over six months and has not made any recommendations to the government. So we have no choice but to register our protest."
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