The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) has decided to intensify its ongoing agitation, demanding that the State government safeguard 50% reservation for in-service doctors in PG admissions and ensure continuation of the method hitherto followed for calculation of incentive marks during PG admissions.
In its emergency executive committee meeting held here on Sunday, TNGDA decided to boycott all Primary Health Centres (PHCs) across the State from May 2 to 8, apart from holding a one-day strike on May 8.
The association has stated that the doctors will also stop performing elective surgeries from May 3 in all government hospitals and medical colleges. “On May 5 and 6, doctors in all government-run hospitals will apply for mass leaves and gather in Chennai for a demonstration,” said K. Senthil, state president of TNGDA.
‘March to Chennai’
“However, there will be no hindrance to emergency care and other life-saving activities during any of these protests,” he added.
“We have also proposed a ‘March to Chennai’ programme,” said association secretary P. Balakrishnan.
Doctors falling under the purview of the directorates of Medical Education, Medical Services and Public Health have decided not to attend classes, meetings, submit reports or conduct training as part of their agitation. On Saturday, a federation of 20 student organisations held a protest demanding that NEET not be imposed on the State. The federation is planning to garner support from the film industry in the coming days.
If the legal avenues and the pressure being mounted on the State government for the fulfilment of the demands do not prove fruitful by May 10, the TNGDA has warned that around 5,000 PG aspirants, presently working in government hospitals, will go on mass study leave for one year.
The protests were triggered by a recent order of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, overruling the method followed by Tamil Nadu thus far for calculating incentive marks for in-service doctors working in remote or hilly areas during PG admissions, with the one prescribed by the Medical Council of India (MCI).
Doctors here feel that the MCI’s method provides a disproportionate advantage to a handful of doctors working in a few remote or hilly regions.
They have also expressed concern that the court ruling may also pave the way for cancellation of the 50% quota currently available for in-service doctors in Tamil Nadu.
(With additional inputs from R. Sujatha in Chennai)
