IGMC and KN Hospital to go on mass casual leave tomorrow

Shimla, Nov 13: Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) and Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) resident doctors in Shimla town of Himachal Pradesh have decided to go on mass casual leave in support of their demands tomorrow, association president Rajesh Sood said today.

''We have decided to go on mass leave tomorrow following no response to our charter of demands submitted to the state chief minister through the IGMC Principal,'' he told UNI over the telephone.

Mr Sood said the association was demanding withdrawal of cases registered against its office bearers during the anti-reservation strike and hike in stipend for post graduates, house surgeons and interns from Rs 8,400, Rs 6,300 and Rs 3,200 to Rs 15,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 6,200 respectively.

Besides, it was also demanding resumption of winter and summer vacations to registrars working in the state medical colleges as was being done earlier besides PG increments to specialist doctors, he said.

While the doctors in districts hospitals were being given increments, the specialist doctors of IGMC and Medical College Tanda were being denied the increments for some strange reasons, he further added.

The association also threatened to resort to indefinite hunger strike or indefinite strike unless the state government accepted the demands, he said.

Mr Sood said the association would charter its future course of action after meeting Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh this evening.

UNI