Government doctors launch next phase of protests

With no progress in their long-pending demands, the Federation of Government Doctors Associations (FOGDA) began the next phase of its protests, launching a non-cooperation movement from Friday.

The FOGDA has been demanding a review of Government Order (G.O.) 354 related to pay and promotions, and grant of ₹3,000 allowance to Primary Health Centre medical officers.

In a letter to the Health Secretary, the FOGDA said that during the meeting with the Health Secretary and Special Secretary of the Finance Department regarding pay, allowances, and promotion demands on January 19, the government had said a decision would be taken at the earliest.

The FOGDA had already announced a series of protests, starting with a 48-hour token fast from January 28, to draw the attention of the Chief Minister to the issue. However, till date, “no appreciable progress” has been made to address the issue of reviewing G.O. 354.

The federation said it would commence the protests from Friday by boycotting biometric attendance in all directorates, exiting all official WhatsApp groups, boycotting the conduct of theory, clinical classes for medical and paramedical students and boycotting all official online and offline meetings.

It said that as doctors, they were concerned about patients and were resorting to these protests without affecting patient care services and hoped the government would take proactive steps at the earliest to solve the issue amicably.