Doctors under the aegis of the All Manipur Health Services Doctors’ Association (AMHSDA) have again threatened to commence agitation if the Manipur government fails to meet their demands.
“We are ready to launch an indefinite cease work strike if the state government fails to fulfill our demands at the earliest,” AMHSDA general secretary, Lolee P Mao said on January 31.
Addressing a press conference at Manipur Press Club in Imphal, the general secretary of doctors’ association alleged that Manipur health minister S Ranjan failed to keep his word.
The doctors have been resorting to a series of strikes since October last year. The strikes were, however, suspended after a meeting with the health minister deliberated on the demands of the association.
He said that after a thorough deliberation, the minister agreed to table four key demands of the association to a cabinet meeting while appealing the association to suspend the strike during the Sangai Tourism Festival, 2022.
The AMHSDA has been pressing the state government to address their four-point demand, which included among others, 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.
The doctors’ body also demanded inclusion of non-practicing allowance (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in the basic pay with effect from January 1 of 2016 as per the 7th Central Pay Commission and major amendment of the outdated MHS rules 1982.
Alleging that the state government ignored their demands, the AMHSDA resumed the strike with indefinite closure of OPDs in all government healthcare centres from January 9.
As the stir yielded no positive result, the doctors have decided to launch an indefinite cease work strike, the general secretary of the doctors’ body said.
He, however, added that the date to begin the cease work strike is yet to be fixed.
