Upset over PG bond amount, Haryana doctors threaten to launch agitation on July 1

Chandigarh, June 18

The core committee of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) today decided to launch an agitation over their pending demands on the occasion of Doctors’ Day on July 1. There is resentment among government doctors towards the state government as it failed to fulfil its promises made during a meeting with the Director-General of Health Services on December 29, 2023.

One of the issues is the PG bond amount. Earlier, it was mutually agreed upon to reduce the bond amount to pursue in-service postgraduate course, as it was tough for PG aspirants to arrange for two sureties worth Rs 1 crore each. The proposal of submitting Rs 50 lakh surety and Rs 50 lakh post-dated cheques is in process, but there is undue delay in the notification.

Another issue is stagnation in the cadre as there are fewer promotional avenues. Around 95 per cent of the cadre gets only one promotion (Medical Officer to Senior Medical Officers) throughout the service, and that too, after around 20-22 years of service. It was mutually agreed upon at the meeting with the Health Minister in January this year that there will be no direct recruitment at the SMO level in future and service rules will be amended accordingly. However, the proposal has not been initiated by the DGHS office yet.

Also, there is an acute shortage of specialists in the HCMS cadre. As per association members, former CM Manohar Lal Khattar had announced on the floor of the House that a specialist cadre would be formed to attract and retain specialists.