Senior Journalist, Amritsar / Chandigarh.
The meeting between the Punjab Civil Medical Service (PCMS) and the Punjab Health Minister was inconclusive. Therefore, from Thursday, the (PCMS) doctors of the entire Punjab are going on an indefinite strike. This was confirmed by the General Secretary of the Jallianwala Bagh Shaheedi Smarak Civil Hospital (PCMS), Dr. Madhur Poddar. He said that the Minister gave them 3 months to fulfill their demands. Which they absolutely reject. Therefore, on Thursday, the hospital announced to suspend OPD services for the whole day.
In such a situation, the patients coming for treatment may have to face many kinds of difficulties. Anyway, for the last three days, the doctors have been on strike every day from 8 to 11 am. Dr. Madhur Poddar said that on Wednesday, as per the scheduled time, his union had a meeting with the state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu. In the meeting, the doctors put forth their pending demands. The main demand was regarding security.
The talks took place in a very cordial atmosphere. The government assured that they are ready to accept their demands one by one. But for this they asked for 3 months time which was not acceptable to us. The union pressurized the minister to immediately issue a letter regarding all the demands but he did not agree. After holding a meeting with all the officials, the union decided that this time they want to continue their struggle till the government immediately issues a notification regarding their demands. Because every time the government gives them assurances, but in reality it is put on the back burner.