Rural docs resist Pb plan to rationalise health care

Chandigarh: With the Punjab government looking to improve health services by optimising the use of available resources through rationalisation, doctors of rural development and panchayats department have raised the red flag over the contentious issue of their long pending demands.
The Punjab government and rural medical officers have been at loggerheads for a long time over the issue, with the latter accusing the former of bias and depriving them of their financial and career growth rights.Facing resource constraints, the government is hoping to synchronise health resources available with the health and rural development and panchayats departments. There are 560 rural medical officers that it intends to utilize for overcoming the shortage of doctors. The first pushback came from the rural medical officers after they refused to perform duties at primary health centres of the health department in Muktsar and Bathinda.
Jagjit Bajwa, president of Association of Rural Medical Officers, announced that they are ready to fully support any initiative but the government must first fulfil their genuine demand. The association has been pressing for the implementation of a dynamic assured career progression scheme at par with medical officers/dental doctors /other doctors of the health department, which they are entitled to under clause 6 of the Punjab Panchayati Raj Rural Medical Services (Group A) rules. They also want their seniority protected when shifted to the health department.
For a long time, the government has been trying to transfer rural dispensaries and their manpower to the health department.
A total of 134 rural dispensaries and their medical officers, who gave their consent, were transferred in 2021, but the seniority of these doctors was not protected. “We are not asking for anything which is against the norms. We are requesting the government to protect our genuine rights,” said Dr Bajwa.