6 days ago
T.N. government doctors seek pay parity, job for deceased doctor's widow
The Legal Coordination Committee for Government Doctors (LCC) has appealed to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to announce, on Independence Day, the implementation of Government Order (GO) 354 issued during the tenure of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and to provide a government appointment to Divya, widow of Vivekanandan, a government doctor who died while serving during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement, S. Perumal Pillai, LCC president, said Tamil Nadu has been a model in the health sector, reducing Infant Mortality Rate and Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR), with the latter falling from 45 last year to 39 this year. The State has also received the national award for organ transplantation for the eighth consecutive year. However, government doctors continue to receive among the lowest salaries in the country.
Recalling that Mr. Stalin, as Leader of the Opposition in 2019, had expressed solidarity with protesting doctors and assured that their demands would be met when the DMK came to power, Dr. Perumal Pillai said the assurances remain unfulfilled even after four years. Around 19,000 government doctors are awaiting resolution of the pay issue, he added.
He noted that despite several demonstrations, including a march from Salem Mettur to Chennai, to draw attention to their demands, the government has not acted. Tamil Nadu, he said, is the only State where government doctors have had to resort to such measures for service-related issues and even then, participants were detained.
The LCC pointed out that government doctors had been a key support to the State during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and expressed concern that Dr. Vivekanandan's family has not received the requested appointment despite repeated appeals.
The committee urged that to strengthen the health sector, adequate posts for doctors and nurses be sanctioned and GO 354 be implemented. As Karunanidhi had secured the right for Chief Ministers to hoist the national flag on Independence Day, the LCC requested that the announcement be made on August 15 as a tribute to him, alongside the appointment for Ms. Divya.
