Covid-19: Haryana doctors refuse double salary, seek safety gear

Nitin Jain

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Tribune News Service

Ambala, April 16

Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) Association on Thursday announced not to take double basic salary offered by the state government.

“As per the email received from the state headquarters, the benefit of double basic salary will be applicable to the doctors working at isolation wards, ICUs, and sampling for Covid. Giving benefit to few doctors will demoralise the entire HCMS cadre. In view of this, HCMS Association has decided not to take the double basic salary on this pattern,” association general secretary Dr Rajesh Sheokand said in a letter addressed to the Health Minister Anil Vij.

Releasing the copy of the letter, here today, the association senior vice-president Dr Sheel Kant Pajni, who is posted Ambala Cantonment Civil Hospital SMO, said the Health Minister has been apprised that all the HCMS doctors posted in civil hospitals, civil surgeon offices, SDHs, PHCs, UHCs, UPHCs, poly clinics and all other dispensaries of State Health Department were doing their duties and involved directly or indirectly in various activities to control Covid pandemic.

“The doctors were involved in duties like screening, treatment, sampling, testing, active field surveillance, treatment at quarantine centres, treatment of migrant labour, IPD (isolation wards), OPDs, emergency services, and mobile teams. The doctors posted at isolation wards, ICUs and sampling section were using PPE kits but the other doctors on duty were dealing with the patients without having N95 masks and PPE kits and hence, they were on higher risk because they don’t know which patient was Covid positive or not,” the HCMS Association further wrote.

The HCMS doctors further stated that the double basic salary was the offer made the Chief Minister and they had never demanded it. “It is our moral duty to save the lives of ailing humanity. We are ready to work even without double salary, but with proper safety gears like N95 masks and PPE kits to protect all the doctors out on duty,” they submitted.

The Association demanded that the state government should provide the HCMS doctors sufficient medicines, ventilators and safety gears in place of double salary.