2,500 doctors resign from association

[sajiv]

2,500 doctors resign from association

Bangalore: Nearly 2,500 government doctors submitted their resignation to the Karnataka Government Medical Officers' Association at the executive committee meeting at Arogya Bhavan here on Sunday.

H.N. Ravindra, association president, told The Hindu that the Government had agreed to settle their demands by January 2009. However, till now, the Government had not shown any inclination to the doctors or consider their demands.

There are more than 4,000 doctors working in government hospitals and institutions, and the association has decided to ask all its members to quit government service if their demands are not met by September 28.

"The doctors in government service are putting in long hours for a paltry salary when compared with their counterparts in the private sector. When we went on strike from November 10 to November 13, 2008, the Karnataka High Court took us to task and asked us to call it off. Now, we have decided to resign en masse if our demands are not met," he said.

He also said that the members of the association would tour districts in North Karnataka to garner support.

The government doctors have not been sending reports (of diseases and epidemics) since August 26 to their higher-ups, as a sign of protest.

"We do not want the public to suffer after we resign. We will, therefore, set up private clinics and offer our services at a nominal charge," Dr. Ravindra said.