OPD service in Assam is disrupted as doctors go on strike
GUWAHATI: Large-scale protests across the district by the Assam Medical Services Association (AMSA), a leading body of doctors, on Monday disrupted health services in the outpatient department (OPD) of the state hospital.
Hundreds of OPDs were closed during Prime Hour from 8am to 1.30pm at the start of the three-day OPD boycott program by AMSA for not meeting their demands, including time scale promotion of doctors and regularization of salaries of senior PGs. Doctor
They said their demands were not heard after several rounds of meetings with the state health department and so they decided to intensify their protests. The boycott program is supported by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
“Discrimination against senior doctors cannot be tolerated. We have been raising the issue of junior doctors getting paid more than PG doctors or specialists since 2013. But the inability of the state government to solve the problem has forced us to take extreme measures, ”AMSA general secretary Dr Konak Cha Talukder told TOI.
In the morning, when thousands of patients were denied treatment and hospitals were in disarray, Anurag Goel, chief secretary of the state health department, called the AMSA to call off the strike.
Talukder said a virtual executive committee meeting is expected to be convened on Monday evening to discuss the matter.
“The chief secretary has assured us that the government is committed to finding a solution to our demands,” he said.
Talukder said no decision had been taken to withdraw the OPD boycott until the report was written.
AMSA stressed that many senior doctors have not been promoted even after working as Joint Director and Sub-Divisional Medical Officer for more than 10 years.
Earlier, on October 19, AMSA’s call for an OPD boycott severely damaged government hospital healthcare.
Later in the evening, state health minister Keshab Mahanta invited the doctors’ body for a discussion, but the stalemate persisted. The AMSA expressed outrage that the minutes of the October 19 meeting did not explicitly set a deadline for resolving the demands and led the movement.
OPD service in Assam is disrupted as doctors go on strike
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by News East India staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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