DIMAPUR:
Members of the Nagaland In-service Doctors Association (NIDA) went on three-day mass casual leave to press for their demand to increase the superannuation age of in-service doctors of the state from 60 to 62 years, on April 18.
The association said that it had taken the decision to go on a mass casual leave following the government’s apathy towards the promise made by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to increase their retirement age.
On the first day of the protest leave, regular services in hospitals were, however, not severely hit. With the OPDs closed, serious patients had already been admitted in wards and ICUs are being treated as usual by the doctors concerned, the association said. The association added that consulting doctors are in station and available round-the-clock to attend to any medical or surgical emergencies.
Earlier on April 17, the government had directed the medical department not to grant any leave to any government medical officer or health care professional ahead of Nagaland In-Service Doctors Association (NIDA) mass casual leave for three days starting from April 18.
The government had also reiterated its April 14 order, barring all government doctors from any communication with the press in matters not connected with discharge of official duty. The government warned that failure to comply with the said instruction will make officers liable for disciplinary action, in addition to deduction of pay for the unauthorised absence on the principle of ‘No Work, No Pay’.