Medical, dental teachers undertake symbolic blocking of national highways to protest against NPA cut

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 12

Medical and dental teachers and resident PCMS doctors of Government Medical and Dental Colleges in Patiala and Amritsar and Guru Gobind Singh Medical College in Faridkot on Monday observed a one-day protest against the Sixth Punjab Pay Commission report relating to the state government doctors which has led to “a drastic cut” in their salaries.

According to Dr DS Bhullar, state general secretary of Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association (PSMDTA), OPD and operation theatre services along with classroom teaching of the students were kept completely suspended for the entire day in medical and dental colleges and attached hospitals in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot as a mark of protest.

However, emergency, indoor patient and Covid services along with emergency medico-legal and post-mortem work was running smoothly.

Medical and dental teachers, along with resident PCMS doctors from different departments, organised a rally at Government Medical College and blocked the Patiala-Sangrur highway as a symbolic protest, appealing to the Chief Minister to accept their NPA demand as early as possible so that patient care and teaching of the students did not suffer.

PSMDTA has also condemned the “threatening attitude” of Research and Medical Education Minister OP Soni during his meeting with the PSMDTA leaders on Saturday at Chandigarh.

Though the minister assured the association to accept the genuine demands of the medical and dental teachers, he demanded one-month time to resolve the issue, which was turned down by the association as it has already declared July 20 as the deadline to sort out the issue of NPA after which they will go on indefinite strike along with all other associations of the state.

Besides, government doctors said they might even stop attending Covid duties for which the state government would be held responsible.

Government doctors have been protesting for the past more than three weeks and demanding restoration of their NPA to its original form and linking it with their basic pay along with restoration of all other allowances.