Punjab doctors quit, serious crisis predicted
Times News Network Saturday, August 2, 2003
Jalandhar - Three doctors from Jalandhar and nine in Ludhiana, according to the PCMS association,
have put in their resignation papers against the Punjab government's decision to withdraw non-
practising allowance.
Doctors from other cities of the state are preparing to follow suit.
A serious crisis in health services is being predicted, and, in the long run, a setback to training
and education, especially if the medical teachers decide to quit. It is believed that a large number
of teachers have already submitted their resignations to the State Medical and Dental Teachers'
Association. The NPA notification so far applies only to medical officers.
Dr A K Khuller, eye surgeon, who is among the three who have resigned from Jalandhar, told TNN
that the government was shielding those who had been doing private practice. "We have not done
private practice all our lives and we are being punished for it," he said. He has four years' of
service left.
The loss to patients and student interns is causing worry as these senior doctors would be taking
away with them precious experience they could have shared for many more years.
Dr Gurdeep Singh, working at ESI Hospital, is another eye surgeon who has put in his papers. He said
that he had taken the step because he feared losing pensionary benefits if he did not resign.
Dr M P Bali, state PCMS unit vice-president, said that Dr J S Rattan from the anaesthesia department
has also stepped down.
According to the Dr Surjit Singh, PCMS Association general secretary, the word NPA is a
"bureaucratic invention and a misnomer. Doctors don't get NPA because they are not doing private
practice but because they have an arduous job to perform which others do not have to. They are
always there for night call. The working hours are more than those in other services. They are
exposed to the risk of contacting deadly diseases like AIDS and they do not have long vacations."
According to an estimate, over 20 per cent doctors are preparing to quit in the state. All those who
have put in more than 20 years of service would stand to lose pensionary benefits as the pension is
calculated on the basis of the last salary withdrawn.
With NPA gone, the salary will dip by up to Rs 6,000 for a doctor who has put in 20 years of
service. "After 20 years of service, you get pensionary, gratuity and other benefits equivalent to
full service," said Dr Bali.
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