CM assures, AMHSDA suspends stir; normal OPD resumes
Source: Chronicle News Service
Senapati, January 10 2023:
In a big development, All Manipur Health Services Doctors' Association (AMHSDA) has temporarily called off its agitation with effect immediate effect, after an informal meeting between the chief minister and the AMHSDA general secretary at the CM Secretariat on Monday.
During the meeting, the chief minister agreed to four demands of the AMHSDA.
In a circular, AMHSDA general secretary Dr Lolee P Mao wrote, "The AMHSDA had fought a good fight unitedly for all these difficult days wholeheartedly.
It is because of you; we are today and will be tomorrow and face whatever, how hard it may be than yesterday.
As the purity of gold is tested by fire, the strength and courage of AMHSDA will be tested by unity" .
Chief minister N Biren reportedly stated that AMHSDA's demands are under process and assured that the four demands will be granted.
After a consultative meeting with the AMHSDA Working Committee, the two-day OPD closure, to be followed by an indefinite shutdown, is called off with effect from midnight of January 9, 2023 until further notification.
The four demands of AMHSDA are time bound/scale promotion, enhancement of superannuation age to 65 years for specialist and non-specialist doctors as administrative post, NPA fixation with effect from January 1, 2016 as per the Central 7th Pay Commission similar to doctors at JNIMS Hospital, Imphal, and major amendment of the outdated MHS Rules 1982.All hospitals and medical institutes in the state witnessed a deserted look with the closure of all OPDs by AMHSDA on January 9.However, out-patient departments in all health institutions reportedly started functioning normally from Tuesday, the scene which was also witnessed at the Senapati District Hospital, following AMHSDA's suspension of its agitation.
Addressing media persons at the district hospital, Dr Lolee P Mao extended gratitude to all the public of the state for their understanding and the forbearance they had shown during the agitation.
According to sources, the state government is still dithering over the AMHSDA's demand for increase of superannuation, citing there are some implications for organised service.
However, the AMHSDA general secretary maintained that there is no implication in an organised service but may be political implications as theirs is different to other organised services, explaining that other organised services don't have emergency duties, they don't handle dangerous or risky diseases, but the doctors do all these.
According to Dr Lolee P Mao, extension of superannuation age to 65 years was introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016 and in response to it the first BJP-led state government had introduced the same policy in August, 2017.However, in January 2020, it was rescinded just to victimise some few doctors.
Such victimization of some few doctors cannot victimize the whole doctors, the move which he called injustice.
The proposed two-day closure of all OPDs to be followed by indefinite shutdown of OPDs was effective in all 16 districts of Manipur.
After an informal meeting with the chief minister on Monday, the AMHSDA general secretary called the CM respectable person and a man of action, known for doing justice.
During the meeting, the chief minister assured to fulfil the demands of AM HSDA.
With his assurance, the general secretary called a consultative meeting with the working committee of AMHSDA and finally decided to suspend their ongoing agitation.