Dr Ajay Kumar addresses the meeting of Bihar Health Service Association at Sai Hospital in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Medical professionals working in the government sector slammed the state on Sunday for its “insensitivity and apathetic attitude” towards their long-pending demands.

They also threatened to go on a day’s strike on July 5 if their eight-point charter of demands was not met with.

At its general body meeting in the capital, Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) — an organisation of government doctors in the state — demanded immediate assured career promotion and dynamic assured career promotion for 700 doctors, who have been deprived of promotions since 2008 and regularisation of 1,511 contractual doctors.

BHSA members also demanded Rs 10 lakh compensation for the family of Dr K.K. Singh, a contractual doctor, who had reportedly committed suicide this February in Arwal. The doctor was said to be under tremendous pressure since he was attacked by the relatives of a patient, who had died at the hospital where Singh was on duty at the time of the incident. He was allegedly being threatened to take the assault case back after one of the accused got arrested in the case.

BHSA general secretary Ajay Kumar said the government would also have to induct Singh’s wife into government service on compassionate grounds, according to her educational qualification.

“At present, doctors are sent to district headquarters where the posting committee, chaired by civil surgeon, has to decide their place of posting. However, being head of district health society, it is the district magistrates who pull the strings according to their wishes. We want the postings to be finalised at the secretariat-level only,” Ranjeet Kumar, the secretary of BHSA, pointed out a few of the demands.

On being asked what was the government’s stand on the points made by the association, health department principal secretary Amarjeet Sinha said: “We want to make an accountable system and are taking necessary systems for this. I have been listening and attending to the demands that doctors have (put forward) and we have been acting according to government norms and policies,” Sinha said.