Patna, Aug. 7: Threatening to quit en masse again, the government doctors today voiced their protest against the state’s alleged apathy towards their long pending demands. They also strongly opposed the health department’s recent step of adopting the central government’s Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act.
The medics vented their ire in the executive body meeting of Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) — an organisation of the government doctors. Its members had earlier threatened that about 4,000 government doctors would apply for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) if their nine-point demands, including implementation of the Andhra Pradesh model of Medical Professional Protection Act (MPPA) and extension of the retirement age to 65, were not met with by August 5.
The BHSA members have decided to give two more months to the policy-makers to consider the demands of the medical professionals in the government services. “As the health department principal secretary, Amarjeet Sinha, had agreed to some of the demands in principal and had agreed to consider them sympathetically, BHSA has agreed to wait for some “positive” steps from the government,” a member of the association said.
“If our demands are not taken seriously, we will hold district-wise general body meetings on September 4. Thereafter, an executive body meeting would be convened in the capital. We will decide on our future course of action there. Our vow to sacrifice our jobs remains the same if the government continues to disregard our genuine demands,” Dr Ajay Kumar, the general secretary of BHSA, said.
He said while the union welcomed the good gestures by the government in the forms of Medical Service Institution and Personal Protection Act and another act regulating the conduct of the nursing homes, it had apprehensions regarding many clauses of the acts.
“The Clinical Establishment Act talks about “stabilising” patients with need of emergency care prior to referring them to higher-level hospitals. In case of clinics with no emergency care services or life-saving equipment, how is it possible? Most of the government hospitals too cannot handle such cases? Ultimately the doctors — private or government — will suffer because of this impractical condition of the act,” Dr Ranjit Kumar, the secretary of BHSA, said.
The doctors demanded strengthening of the health directorate with more technical people in it.
“At present, the bureaucrats are ruling the roost in the health department. The doctors who are sweating it out on the ground are treated shabbily and are working under poor service conditions. But policy-makers are only concerned about extracting hardest performance without proper perks or remuneration. For how long do we keep quiet over this?” asked a senior member of the association.
