Doctors end strike as govt accedes to demands

A week-long strike by in-service doctors in Rajasthan was called off late night on Sunday, after the state government reportedly agreed to most of their demands.

All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors’ Association (ARISDA) president Dr Ajay Choudhary said the talks were held in a positive atmosphere, although it took a while to iron out the issue. The doctors had put forth a 33-point charter of demands, but the two parties failed to achieve a breakthrough despite holding four rounds of talks. The matter was finally resolved on Sunday, during an extended meeting from 2 pm to 11 pm.

While a demand pertaining to the Dynamic Accelerated Career Promotion (DACP) was addressed, another grouse pertaining to grade pay and promotions will be resolved by March 31, 2018, following cabinet approval. The doctors also want the annual confidential report to be filled by department officials instead of the zilla parishad chief executive officer, a demand that will be addressed by December 31.

Government officials entrusted with handling the negotiations refused to consider a demand for instituting only single shifts (instead of double shifts) at hospitals.

However, they agreed to refer the proposal for a one-month trial period to test such a routine to higher-ups, so they can take a call on the matter.

The talks were held in the presence of health minister Kali Charan Saraf, and attended by additional chief secretary (finance) DB Gupta, principal secretary (home) Deepak Upreti, principal secretary (medical and health) Veenu Gupta, secretary (medical education) Anand Kumar and secretary (finance) Manju Rajpal, among others.

The medical professionals present on behalf of ARISDA included Dr Ajay Choudhary, Dr Jagdish Modi, Dr Lakshman Ola and Dr Nasreen Bharti.

Resident doctors and senior resident doctors had also gone on strike for the last three days in solidarity with in-service doctors.

The Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) said most of the demands posed by resident doctors were met, and they would resume work from Monday noon.

“There are certain loopholes in the system that will be filled after our demands are met. Doctors will also become more interested in taking up government jobs,” said Dr Choudhary.

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