Doctors in rural dispensaries seek career progression scheme

Three days after the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) called off their agitation following a state notification on reinstatement of annual career progression of medical officers, the Federation of Rural Medical Services Associations, Punjab, consisting of over 500 doctors, is gearing up for a month-long protest.

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The federation has written a letter to Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann demanding a dynamic assured career progression (DACP) scheme. The rural medical officers have announced that if their demand was not met they would begin a phased protest from February 1.

Dubbing it the “Black Month of Punjab’s Rural Healthcare”, the protest will involve rural medical officers wearing black badges while on duty and displaying hoardings at subsidiary health centres (SHCs) or rural dispensaries to highlight their plight. If the issue persisted, the federation warned of escalating the protest by hitting the streets.

Flagging the grievances of nearly 530 rural medical officers, who have been serving in remote areas of the state for nearly two decades, Dr JP Narula and Dr Jagjit Singh Bajwa, both office-bearers of the federation, stated that despite their significant contribution to rural health care under the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat, the officers had been excluded from the benefits of the DACP scheme. Working tirelessly to provide medical services in ‘underserved’ areas, they have expressed dissatisfaction with what they termed an “unfair and discriminatory” decision.

“The DACP scheme, which was designed to ensure career progression and financial stability for medical professionals, has been denied to rural medical officers, leading to a deep sense of injustice among the cadre,” said Dr Narula.

“For the past 19 years, we have dedicated ourselves to improving healthcare in rural Punjab under extremely challenging conditions. Yet our contribution remains unrecognised compared to other doctors in the healthcare system,” the doctor added.

The federation emphasised that granting DACP benefits to rural medical officers would ensure equitable treatment within the state’s healthcare framework.