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basis of the last salary withdrawn.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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