Odisha doctors boycott OPD services over staff shortage, other complaints
OPD services across government hospitals in Odisha disrupted as doctors boycott work for two hours, demanding filling of vacant posts and pay parity
Outpatient department (OPD) services across state-run hospitals in Odisha were disrupted on Monday (January 5) morning as government doctors boycotted work for two hours, pressing the state government to address a range of long-pending demands, including the filling of over 50 per cent vacant posts.
Members of the Odisha Medical Service Association (OMSA) stayed away from OPD services between 9 am and 11 am as part of their ongoing agitation, seeking the implementation of a 10-point charter of demands.
Doctors escalate protest statewide
OMSA president Kishore Mishra said doctors have been agitating since November 20.
“In the first phase, the doctors joined work wearing black badges, and from December 26, they boycotted the OPD service for one hour. They further extended the OPD boycott to two hours from today,” he said.
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Mishra said emergency services, inpatient care and surgeries were not affected.
“Emergency services, inpatient care, and surgeries will remain unaffected. Now on, opds will remain closed from 9 am to 11 am daily, from primary health centres to district headquarters hospitals,” he added.
Government appeals for restraint
Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling appealed to the doctors to withdraw their agitation, saying the government was “sympathetically considering” their demands.
He said the state government had constituted an inter-departmental committee to examine the issues raised by the doctors.
Mishra, however, expressed scepticism about such assurances, pointing out that a similar committee was formed during the previous BJD government.
“We have no trust in these committees. We urge the CM to intervene and resolve the problem,” he said.
Over half of the posts vacant, says OMSA
Highlighting the staffing crisis, Mishra said Odisha has just over 6,000 government doctors against a sanctioned strength of 15,776.
“This means that over 50 per cent of posts are vacant, which is creating additional pressure on the existing doctors,” he said.
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Responding to concerns about public inconvenience, Mishra said patients would not be denied healthcare services.
“No one will be denied healthcare services as doctors will work after the two-hour boycott,” he said.
Apart from filling vacant posts, the doctors are demanding pay parity with central government employees, proportional restructuring of cadres across all grades, additional financial incentives for super-specialists, specialists and diploma medical administrators, postmortem allowance, and performance-based incentives.
(With agency inputs)