Chandigarh: In a significant turn of events, government doctors affiliated with the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) have opted to defer their planned strike until January 1, 2024. This decision comes in the wake of a constructive meeting with health department officials in Panchkula on Friday, where crucial proposals were discussed and addressed.
team had earlier reported that the doctors under the banner of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) have now gone on an indefinite strike suspending critical services, including emergency, labour, postmortem, jail services, and various other health services from 29th December. the demands put forth by the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) include the creation of a distinct cadre for specialist doctors, a commitment made by the Chief Minister two years ago but yet to be implemented.
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Additionally, HCMSA has sought a revision in the bond amount for pursuing postgraduate (PG) courses while in service, proposing a decrease from the current amount of Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh. The association has also sought a dynamic assured career progression scheme comparable to that of other central government doctors. The doctors have decided to defer their agitation after a meeting on Friday which was chaired by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), Dr Randeep Singh Poonia and attended by Dr JS Poonia, Dr Manish Bansal, and Dr Kuldeep Singh.
The health services at the hospital will resume immediately and the body members will hold another round of meetings to be chaired by health minister Anil Vij,” said HCMSA president Dr Rajesh Khyalia. “The next meeting will also be attended by additional chief secretaries (ACS) health and finance, apart from other officials of the health department,” he told the HT.
As per a recent media report by Hindustan Times, among the key demands discussed, was the reduction of the Post Graduate (PG) bond amount. The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) conveyed that the proposal has been forwarded to the office of the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) for health. Additionally, there have been discussions revolving around the removal of the condition of mortgage/bank guarantee of property.
The file seeking approval to halt the direct recruitment of senior medical officers was assured swift attention, with the DGHS stating that the health minister would address the matter within the next 10 days. In a positive development, the specialist cadre proposal received approval and was returned to the ACS (health) by the Chief Minister's office for further processing. Matters concerning seniority in service were slated for discussion in subsequent meetings, reports the Daily.
The minutes of the meeting revealed that during a telephonic conversation with the DGHS, Health Minister Vij urged doctors to resume their duties and expressed a commitment to resolving all pending demands in a time-bound manner. In a gesture towards resolving immediate grievances, DGHS has promised to convert the rejected leaves for December 27 and 29, corresponding to the days of the strikes observed by the HCMSA, into leaves of the appropriate kind.
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