The All Manipur Health Services Doctors’ Association (AMHSDA) has decided to go ahead with its proposed two-day OPD shutdown in all government run hospitals from Monday, citing the government's failure to honour the agreement reached between the doctors’ association and representatives of the state.
The AMHSDA on January 5 announced to closure of OPD services in all government hospitals across the state from January 9 followed by indefinite shutdown.
A statement issued by the association said that they have reduced their initial eight charter of demands to only four on the request of the government representatives, additional chief secretary, health and family welfare services and director, health services with the AMHSDA President and General secretary and the AMHSDA Working Committee on November 14, 2022 and reaffirmed at the Ministerial level, Health & Family Welfare Services, Manipur on November 18, 2022.
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AMHSDA also strongly condemned the government for neglecting the MHS doctors for more than two years and for considering their basic and fundamental rights as unreasonable. The release also stated that addressing the grievances of the AMHSDA by the government in a press release issued on January 7, 2023 is merely a lame excuse to disintegrate the AMHSDA and confuse the public.
The release also mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration regarding the Doctors superannuation age of 60, 62 to 65 years for Central as well as State in the year 2016.
The first BJP government in Manipur extended doctors superannuation to 65 years on August 30, 2017 but it was rescinded by the same BJP government on January 17, 2020 to victimise some doctors and to accommodate the privilege, it alleged.
It also stated that JNIMS Doctors NPA was granted with arrears and the same Doctors superannuation was extended to 65 years as per the 7th Central Pay Commission and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi Declaration. As such, AMHSDA has been demanding equal treatment as the same citizen of the state and they will not defer its public notification issued on January 5, 2023.
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They have cut down their demands to four out of their eight demands after the ministerial-level meeting held November 18, 2022. The demands include, time bound/scale promotion; extension of superannuation age of specialist and non-specialist doctors to 65 years as administrative post as per the declaration of Prime Minister Narendra Modi; inclusion of NPA in the basic pay with effect from January 1 of 2016 as per the 7th Central Pay Commission and Major Amendment of the outdated MHS Rules 1982.
The remaining four demands are creation of director general and two more directors namely (a) Public Health and (b) Medical Education, any MHS doctor eligible to the highest post i.e director by virtue of seniority, abide strictly the transfer and posting policy 2017, provision of risk and difficult areas posting allowances. And, it has been cut down to the first four demands after a ministerial meeting.
