Docs stage dharna in Tarn Taran, abstain from duties in first half

On the first day of the indefinite strike call given by the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMS) for abstaining from the OPD duties in the first half, doctors staged a dharna here today. Hundreds of patients, who were unaware of the strike, faced harassment while they waited outside rooms of doctors at the local civil hospital.

The same scenario was witnessed at the sub-division civil hospitals in Khadoor Sahib and in Patti, besides at the community health centres in Chabal, Kasel, Ghariala, Harike, Khemkaran and Valtoha and at the primary health centres in the district (PHCs).

Several medical officers participated in the district-level dharna at the local civil hospital. PCMS district president Dr Surinder Kumar, Dr Sukhjinder Singh, Dr Jaspreet Singh Patti, Dr Jatinder Singh,

Dr Rajbir Singh, Dr Jatinder Kaur and other leaders of the association addressed protesters on the occasion.

In their respective address, they condemned the state government for not providing security to medical officers at their place of duty. The leaders stressed on promotions of medical officers and demanded that doctors be given assured career progression (ACP). They said if neighbouring states of Delhi and Haryana could give the ACP to doctors then why the Punjab Government could not do so. They said well-qualified doctors were planning to move to other states which provided better employment opportunities. Doctors distributed pamphlets among patients and apprised them about problems of medical professionals.

The leaders warned to intensify their protest in case the government failed to accept their genuine demands.