Punjab Govt agrees to accept doctors’ demands, but strike on

The state government today agreed in principle to accept a number of demands of the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), including restoration of the assured career progression scheme (ACP) and security for health care workers. The association, however, decided to continue with the strike till a formal communication accepting the demands was issued by the state government.

A meeting between PCMSA representatives and a Cabinet sub-committee, including Finance Minister Harpal Cheema and Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, was held in Chandigarh today, where the issues were discussed in detail.

The state government has also started the process to recruit doctors, as demanded by the association. The present number of doctors in the state is 2,800 against the sanctioned strength of 4,600.

About 2,500 doctors have been observing half-day strike since September 9, affecting medical services across the state for three hours. Out-patient departments’ functioning, elective surgeries, medical examinations, etc. remained suspended during that period, though emergency services and intensive care units remained functional.

In a statement issued here today, the PCMSA appreciated the reassurance given by the sub-committee that a letter accepting the demands would be issued today itself, but stressed that in the face of non-receipt of such official communication from the government, the call for full-day suspension of OPDs for Wednesday continued.

On August 25, the PCMSA gave a call for total closure of OPDs from September 9 to 14, but in view of the persistent insistence of the state government to “moderate” the call for a few days to buy time for discussions with the Finance Department, it decided to close OPDs for the first half of the day only till September 11.

The second phase of the strike, planned from September 12 onwards, might witness a complete closure of OPDs and the suspension of related services, according to a statement issued by the association on Monday.

The PCMSA said that in the second phase of the strike from September 12, there would a complete shutdown of OPDs and no elective surgeries would be conducted. Medical examinations for driving licences, arms licences, recruitment, VIP duties, dope tests, etc. would also remain suspended.

Only emergency, caesarean sections, both elective and emergency, and life-saving surgeries would continue uninterrupted. Emergency services, post-mortems, medico-legal examinations, court evidences and judicial medical examinations would also continue during that period.