Doctors strike work for 2 hours, patients suffer

Under the banner of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA), doctors at government hospitals, including District Civil Hospital here, on Thursday observed a two-hour pen-down strike and kept OPD services closed from 9 am to 11 am to press for their long-pending demands.

The strike was earlier planned for Tuesday but was postponed due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Kurukshetra.

The association is demanding an immediate halt to the direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) and the issuance of the notification of the modified Assured Career Progression (ACP) structure. The notification has been approved by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini but is pending with the Finance Department.

Due to the strike, patients at government hospitals across the district experienced significant inconvenience. However, the authorities claimed that they appointed consultants and NHM doctors in OPDs so that patients do not have to suffer.

Raghbir Singh from Uchana said, “We are facing a lot of difficulty. We had no prior information about the strike.” Omprakash from Jhinjhari, who was waiting at OPD since morning, said, “We are standing in queue since 9.15 am. Had I knew about the strike earlier, I wouldn’t have come. Doctors should not go on strike.”

The patients were seen waiting for OPD slips as operators could not issue any due to the doctors’ strike. Naresh Kumar, a patient, said he had to wait for the issuance of OPD slip.

HCMSA district president Dr Sanjay Verma said they would continue their protest till the demands are met. “Barring emergency, labour room and operations, we have kept OPD services suspended for two hours. We regret the inconvenience caused to the patients. The government has left us with no option, but to take the path of protest,” said Dr Verma. He said the government’s move to directly recruit SMOs is unacceptable, pointing out that no such recruitment has been done since 2012.

“On June 3, 2021, the then Health Minister Anil Vij had ordered that no direct recruitment of SMOs would be done and that existing doctors should be promoted instead. Now, the government is again planning direct recruitment, which we strongly oppose,” he added.

Dr Deepak Goyal, state treasurer of HCMSA, said even the CM had announced a modified ACP structure, the notification was yet to be issued by the Finance Department. “We want pay scale upgrade from Rs 8,700 to Rs 9,500, which will bring us on a par with doctors in medical colleges,” said Dr Goyal.

He added that the association has already met the Director General of Health Services, but no concrete action has been taken. “We have sought time from Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Health Minister Arti Singh Rao to present our issues,” he said.

The association will hold a state body meeting on November 30 to decide the next phase of their agitation.

‘No impact of strike’

On the other hand, Civil Surgeon Dr Poonam Chaudhary said there was no major impact of the strike in the district as NHM doctors and consultants discharged duties in OPDs. “We have appointed NHM doctors and consultants in the OPDs in view the pen-down strike,” she added.

Citing the data, she said the number of patients in OPD was 1,441, against 1,500 on a normal day.

However, the HCMSA district president said the strike lasted for two hours and not the entire day. “Doctors discharged their duties as they do every day and checked every single patient, who was in the queue after 11 am,” he added.