Government doctors associations stage protest against redeployment of personnel

Doctors affiliated to the Federation of Government Doctors Associations (FOGDA) and Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) held separate protests in Chennai and other parts of the State demanding the Health Department to withdraw plans to redeploy doctors, including Junior Residents (JR).

FOGDA staged a protest on the premises of Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, Chennai, while TNGDA held demonstrations against redeployment of JRs and other posts in the 14 affected government medical colleges including at Karur, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, and Tiruvallur.

P. Balakrishnan, president, Democratic Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association, one of the constituents of FOGDA, said the Health department has been constructing new hospital buildings without a proportional increase in the number of doctors and the pay-related demands of doctors were also not being addressed.

“The National Medical Commission prescribes minimum standards for academic activities. Utilising this to its advantage, the Health Department is trying to maintain the minimum standards in terms of number of doctors required without taking into consideration the phenomenal increase in the number of patients relying on government hospitals,” he said.

In a letter to the Health Minister, the FOGDA said that the recent redeployment process initiated through Government Order (G.O.) 508 has caused concern among doctors. This is not the first instance of such redeployment. Since 2019, a total of 11 new medical colleges have been established and several super speciality hospitals created across the State, with nearly 100 new buildings constructed. However, this expansion has not been accompanied by the creation of adequate teaching and clinical posts, impacting the functioning and quality of healthcare delivery in the government sector, it said.

FOGDA urged the government to immediately withdraw the G.O. for redeployment and instead create new posts commensurate with the expanding healthcare infrastructure and patient load. Failure to do so would lead to crippling of critical care services, particularly in oncology, pulmonology, and NCD management, thereby gravely affecting the poor and vulnerable populations of Tamil Nadu.

Among other demands, FODGA urged the department to review GO 354 to grant early Pay Band – 4 and grant ₹3,000 monthly allowance to all primary health centre medical officers. They also urged the department to restore 1,500 posts of doctors which were sanctioned in GO 354 but went obsolete after a restructuring exercise in 2019.