Sixth Pay Commission: Doctors resent reduction in NPA

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 23

After non-practicing allowance (NPA) has been reduced by the state government, the Joint Punjab Government Doctors Coordination Committee opposed the Sixth Pay Commission and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner to mark their protest.

Members of the committee Dr Gagandeep Singh (PCMS), Dr Sarabjit Singh Randhawa (veterinary), Dr Pawanpreet Kaur (dental), Dr Sanjeev Pathak (ayurveda), Dr Balwinder Kumar (homoeopathy) and Dr Deepinder Singh (rural medical officer) gave a joint statement that doctors performed their duties as frontline warriors during the Covid-19 pandemic and some of them have lost their lives too. They hoped that the government would appreciate their courage but it discouraged them by reducing the NPA.

“Doctors working in the government sector kept on working day and night with responsibility for the sake of humanity and to save lives and the irony is that many doctors also tested positive as they come in close contact with infected persons and many of them succumbed to the deadly virus. But the state government has ignored the work and efforts done by them during the pandemic,” said Dr Balwinder Kumar, president, Homoeopathic Medical Officers’ Association, Punjab.

He said the pay commission had betrayed the doctors’ community working under the government sector a major example of which was the NPA given to state doctors that had been reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent.

Meanwhile, the Teacher’s Association of the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana, expressed dismay over the state government’s move to reduce the NPA of veterinarians, medicos and allied professionals along with delinking it from the basic pay structure.

The members said: “The government delinked the NPA to be a part of salary for the calculation of other allowances and post-retirement pension-related benefits. Keeping in view the proactive role of veterinarians during the pandemic which involves selfless rendering of services without caring for one’s own life, the disheartening move of the government is a cruel joke. The government must not forget that professionals in the veterinary field are granted the NPA due to their late entry to service owing to an extended period of studies as compared to other non-medical professionals.”

The members expressed anguish over the decision of the state government’s decision to decreasing the NPA.

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