The Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) on Friday called off their week-long strike temporarily and returned to work following a stern warning by the government to sack them.
Doctors call off strike after Govt
On Thursday Chief Minister K. Palaniswami said that the government would declare the striking doctors’ posts as vacant and fill them up with other candidates. He further added that the government had held talks with members of the recognized doctor’s union and those on strike belonged to an unrecognized union.
Health Minister C. Vijaya Baskar warned the doctors that they must end their protest and resume work on Friday. He said, “If they failed to resume duties, their posts would be declared vacant.”
Meanwhile, Dr. Lakshmi Narasimhan, President of the Federation of Government Doctors Association, said, “In response to the Chief Minister’s appeal to end the strike and considering the hardships caused to the general public, the indefinite strike has been called off.”
Reportedly, the doctors were on strike for seven days pressing various demands and the members of the FOGDA also went on strike in support of the doctors. Besides pay parity with their counterparts in the Central government, the doctors are also demanding implementation of the time-bound promotion process, and end of the policy to gradually reduce the number of doctors in hospitals.
However, after the strike was called off, Vijayabhaskar announced that all punitive measures including transfers and break-in-service orders were being cancelled. He also added that the government “will consider” the demands of the doctors but didn’t say if it will consult the doctors’ associations that spearheaded the stir.
