• Source:JND
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Health services in Haryana's government hospitals are expected to be completely disrupted on Monday and Tuesday as nearly 3,000 doctors in the state will go on strike on these two days. The government doctors will neither examine patients nor perform surgeries. They have also decided to suspend emergency services, prompting concerns.

The strike by government doctors during these two days will cause significant inconvenience to patients. The doctors have announced the strike accusing the government of neither being concerned about them nor fulfilling old promises.

To ensure emergency service operations across the state, the Haryana government has planned to hire private specialists. Doctors from the NHM, Dental, and AYUSH departments are expected to conduct outpatient services on Monday and Tuesday.

Despite several rounds of talks between the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) and the state government, no agreement has been reached on postponing the strike. The bone of contention between doctors and the government is the direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs), which the doctors have been demanding to halt.

Former Health Minister Anil Vij had approved this, but it is not being implemented under the current system. While meetings with Health Minister Aarti Singh Rao, Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, and Health Secretary Sudhir Rajpal have reached an agreement not to directly recruit SMOs, the Assured Career Promotion (ACP) remains unresolved.

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Doctors demand 4 promotions in career

State government doctors want four ACPs (four, nine, 13, and 20 years of service) similar to the central government, but the government has not agreed to this.

Dr Rajesh Khyali, state president of the association, stated that the file is with the Finance Department, but it is not being approved. Implementing the new ACP system will not impose any additional burden on the government's finances.

Doctors in Haryana receive three ACPs throughout their career. The association may agree to three at the request of officials, but the doctors want an upgrade. They currently receive a grade pay of 7,600 after 10 years, while their demand is 8,000. The third grade pay is 8,700, while the association's demand is 9,500.

Shortage of doctors

The state president alleged that the current administrative and departmental officials are not serious about addressing the doctors' problems. Based on the state's population, there should be approximately 10,000 doctors in the state, but against the sanctioned 3,900 posts, only 3,000 doctors are working, and even these are not being provided their dues. Therefore, the government should support the doctors.

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To ensure that health services are not affected, Haryana's Director General of Health, Dr Kuldeep Singh, has directed the deployment of private specialist doctors, as well as doctors from the NHM, Dental, and AYUSH departments, in OPD. Kuldeep Singh has also instructed all district hospitals to hire private specialist doctors for surgeries as needed.

Association warns indefinite strike from December 10

The Health Department will bear the entire cost, he added. Dr Rajesh Khyali, state president of the association, said that there is no question of backing down from the previously announced strike until the ACP's demands are met. If the government doesn't agree, they will go on an indefinite strike from December 10.

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