Four months on, rural doctors await salaries

Saturday, 16/06/2012

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20120616/punjab.htm#6

Even after a year of regularisation of their services, the rural medical officers in the state have not received their salaries for the past four months. In some districts, including Jalandhar, they have not received their salaries since December 2011.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr Aslam Parvez, state president of the Rural Medical Services Association, said 1,186 rural dispensaries were handed over to the Rural Development and Panchayat Department in 2006 and as many rural doctors were posted there, one in each dispensary. “After working for five years, the services of the doctors were regularised in May last year but after that they have not received their salaries on time. We have time and again reported the matter to the state government but to no avail,” added Dr Parvez.

“Despite years of hard work, the Zila Parishads are not serious on the issue of regular disbursal of salary to the doctors who are working in peripheral rural areas, “said Dr Jatinder working in Ferozepur district. He said they got their first salary after six months of regularisation of their services. The second salary was given after a gap of three more months and now, they have been waiting for the salaries for the past four months, he said.

A lady doctor from Bathinda said her husband was on bed for the past many years and her daughter was studying in an engineering college. “I am the sole earning member in the family and it has become very difficult for me to run the house in these conditions when you are not getting salaries for four- five months,” she added.

Meanwhile, doctors alleged that due to non-disbursement of funds for electricity and sanitation in rural dispensaries, they were also paying the electricity bills from their own pockets. “The Zila Prishads are supposed to give funds for electricity but there are only three-four districts in which these funds have been released. Therefore, the electricity supply in a few dispensaries has been disconnected and doctors and patients are compelled to bear the scorching heat,” they said.

“How can we function properly in such adverse conditions without salary and electricity,” said Dr Anand Malhotra, organising secretary of the association. He further said there was a lot of difference in allowances in all the districts. Despite strict directions about the allowances, many districts have not given full salary to the rural medical officers.

Ludhiana doctors alleged that in spite of strict orders, the local Zila Parishads are not giving them mobile allowance since the inception of the order. “Same is with the conveyance allowance, academic allowance and DA throughout Punjab” alleged Dr Shivdeep Kaur from Sangrur district.