Protesting cut in NPA, Punjab govt doctors to boycott health, veterinary services, including OPDs, from July 12-14, indefinite stir from July 19

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, July 10

An emergency meeting of the Joint Government Doctors Coordination Committee (JGDCC) held on Saturday decided to shut health and veterinary services, including OPDs, across Punjab from July 12-14. However, services related to emergency, Covid, post-mortem and medico/vetro-legal will continue as usual.

The doctors have been protesting the alleged government silence and failure to come up with a meaningful solution to their demand for non-practising allowance (NPA).

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PCMSA president Dr Gagandeep Singh, senior vice-president Dr Gagandeep Singh Shergill, Veterinary Officers Association president Dr Sarabjit Singh Randhawa, Dental Association president Dr Pawanpreet Kaur, Ayurvedic Association president Dr Sanjeev Pathak, Homoeopathic Association president Dr Balwinder Singh and Rural Medical Officers Association president Dr Deepinder Singh said due to the government's "silence" on the NPA issue, the JGDCC had been forced to give the call for strike again. 

Keeping in view the convenience of the general public, the committee decided that all doctors in the state would boycott government OPDs from July 15 to 17 but hold parallel OPDs on the lawns of hospitals so that the needy persons were not deprived of health or veterinary services. 

They announced that during the boycott of health services, all the doctors of the state would also donate blood and area-wise blood donation camps would be organised in Malwa (July 15), Majha (July 16) and Doaba (July 17) regions. 

The Punjab Health Minister had recently assured the joint committee of resolving their issues within a week, but no action had been taken so far, they claimed.

In a statement, JGDCC convener Dr Inderveer Gill said the NPA agitation was aimed at saving the public healthcare system. "We will oppose any move by the government that is directed to destroy it. Doctors of the state did not want to close down the health and veterinary services, but the government is pursuing a policy of evasion instead of resolving the issue," said Dr Sarabdeep Singh, JGDCC media incharge.

He said the NPA paid to the government doctors by the Sixth Pay Commission had been reduced from 25 per cent to 20 per cent, and it had been de-linked from the basic pay, resulting which there was a huge outcry among government doctors.

The committee also said if the government failed to resolve their issues by July 18, all health and veterinary doctors across the state would go on indefinite strike from July 19.