Chandigarh/Hoshiarpur, Sep 14 (PTI) Doctors at state-run hospitals on Saturday said they have called off their ongoing protest after the Punjab government accepted all their demands, including restoration of the assured career progression scheme.
The announcement was made by the Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA), which was spearheading the stir, following a meeting with Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh.
As part of the protest that began on September 9, outpatient department services at all government facilities had been suspended.
During the meeting, the minister appealed to the doctors to call off the protest, saying patients were facing hardships.
He also assured them that there was no paucity of funds for the department. Therefore, there will not be any hindrances in implementing the approved demands of the PCMSA, he said.
The minister said patient welfare was the foremost objective of the Bhagwant Mann government and no one should suffer due to lack of treatment.
The minister said although the cabinet sub-committee has already agreed to the demands, he reassured the doctors that the dynamic assured career progression (DACP) scheme would be restored soon.
Deliberating on other demands of the PCMSA, Singh said he was working to increase the posts of medical officers. The government has sanctioned 1,390 posts of doctors out of which 400 vacancies have already been advertised, he said.
Funds for security arrangements in hospitals have already been released while CCTV cameras in all the government health facilities are being installed, said the minister.
PCMSA president Dr Akhil Sarin said the government has agreed to implement several key measures, including announcing a comprehensive security framework for all healthcare centers within a week, recruiting 400 medical officers by the end of next month, and reinstating the ACP scheme, with implementation set to occur within 12 weeks, or sooner.
In light of this, the PCMSA called off the OPD suspension protest and announced that OPD hours would be extended by two hours on the first two working days of next week to assist patients who were inconvenienced during the suspension of services.
Around 2,500 government doctors had been holding protests for the past several days to press for their demands, including reinstatement of the ACP scheme, seeking adequate security measures for healthcare professionals and recruitment of more doctors.
The ACP scheme provides financial benefits and higher pay scales to government employees. PTI COR CHS RHL
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