Redress docs’ grievances on priority: Vets to Capt Amarinder

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 19

The Senior Vets Association has rued what it alleged the callous and stubborn attitude of the state government towards genuine demands of government doctors and medical teachers, who had been spearheading a stir against the reduction of their non-practicing allowance (NPA) from 25 to 20 per cent and its delinking from salary.

Chairing a meeting held here today, Dr Gurinder Singh Walia, former joint director, Animal Husbandry, Punjab, and member, Punjab State Veterinary Council, urged Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to intervene in the matter and come to the rescue of doctors who were demoralised and feeling dejected, due to which unrest prevailed in the cadre of government veterinary, medical, dental, ayurvedic and homoeopathic doctors, affecting their smooth working.

Dr Walia averred that in the prevailing scenario, under the ‘one health programme’, veterinary and medical doctors had a crucial role to play and were supposed to form joint strategies and programmes to contain the spread of emerging new diseases globally.

The government must ensure parity of vets and medicos and provide them pay scales higher than Punjab Civil Service officers because of their higher qualifications, longer duration of study and arduous working conditions, he said.

Dr Walia recalled that the Chief Minister was seized of importance of the animal husbandry sector realising that during his previous tenure, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University had been established in Ludhiana to lay more focus on the sector through which the rural economy was being uplifted.

Dr Nitin Kumar, former CEO, Punjab Gau Sewa Commission, lamented that the pay commission had disturbed inter se pay scales of different categories of employees, resulting in resentment among them.

Former deputy directors Dr Bimal Kumar, Dr Raghunandan Sharma, Dr Guriqbal, Dr Nirmaljit Singh Mahal and Dr Rajinder Kumar Vasdev were among those present in the meeting.

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