Specialist doctors break ranks with HCMSA, oppose strike; seek special cadre rollout

Amid the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association’s (HCMSA) call for a complete shutdown of health services on December 8 and 9 over major service-related issues, directly recruited postgraduate specialist doctors have now raised fresh concerns and distanced themselves from the protest. The HCMSA is demanding the stoppage of direct recruitment of Senior Medical Officers (SMOs) and notification of the modified Assured Career Progression (ACP) structure, but specialists say these demands conflict with their own long-pending issues.

The directly recruited specialists clarified that they will not participate in the strike and will continue providing uninterrupted healthcare services across the state. They argue that several demands approved by the government in the past remain unimplemented, causing resentment among the cadre.

“We are not against the promotion of any medical officer to SMO, but our rights should not be compromised. Direct recruitment of SMOs must be implemented to protect our career prospects,” said a postgraduate specialist on the condition of anonymity.

He pointed out that the Finance Department had issued a notification on August 16, 2024, approving the creation of a specialist cadre in the Health Department with a defined pay band. However, he said, “The cadre’s formation still seems to be a distant dream.”

Specialists argue that at the entry level, doctors holding postgraduate qualifications are treated at par with MBBS-qualified medical officers in both designation and pay scale — an issue they describe as fundamentally unfair. “The pay scale for an MBBS-qualified Medical Officer and that for a PG specialist is the same. This disparity discourages specialists and is one of the major reasons the government finds it difficult to retain them,” another specialist said.

They further highlighted that the specialist cadre was introduced after prolonged efforts and protests by the HCMSA itself, and was expected to strengthen healthcare services by deploying qualified specialists to district hospitals, sub-divisional hospitals and first referral units. They said states like Bihar and Madhya Pradesh have already implemented such cadres and questioned why Haryana continues to delay it.

As per the 2024 notification, six increments were to be discontinued when the specialist cadre was implemented. “Finance Department notification of the specialist cadre resulted in stopping of the increment, but practically the cadre was also not implemented,” a specialist said.

He added that the issue was raised in the Haryana Assembly by Rohtak MLA Bharat Bhushan Batra. In her response, Health Minister Arti Singh Rao acknowledged that while the Finance Department had approved a cadre-specific ACP for the clinical specialist cadre, its implementation required amendments to the Haryana Civil Medical (Group-A) Service Rules, 2014, which were under process.

“We want both our demands to be accepted without further delay,” the specialist said.

When contacted, Director General of Health Services Dr Manish Bansal confirmed that the matter remains pending with the Finance Department. “Multiple demands were raised and these were considered. Some were rejected. The notification for specialist and non-specialist cadres was issued, but disagreements among doctors halted its implementation. Discussions are ongoing,” he said. He also noted that many specialists support direct SMO recruitment and urged all groups to arrive at a consensus.