Veterinarians threaten to go on strike from April one

Bhubaneswar, Mar 23 (UNI) About 1000 veterinary doctors of Orissa today threatened to go on an indefinite strike from April one if the government did not concede to their seven point charter of demands.

Orissa Veterinary Association President Ramakanta Mohapatra told newspersons here that the doctors demanded pay parity with Medical Oficers as per the recommendations of the fifth pay commission.

Mr Mohapatra said the Veterinary doctors would wear black badges from tomorrow till March 31 as a mark of protest and would go on an indefinite strike from Apil one if the government fails to fulfill their demands.

The demands included complete parity of pay scale with medical officers in health department at all levels of hierarchy with entry level pay scale at Rs 8000 to 13,500, creation of promotional avenues, time bound advancement scale at par with medicos, increasing the retirement age to 60, risk and postmortem allowances, improvement of infrastructure at work place.

Provision of non-practising allowances and enhancement of stipend of the Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry course at par with the medical internees in MBBS course were other demands.

''The government had adhered to the parity in salary strctures of both the services and extended equal scale of pay. But recently the state government had extended the Fifth Pay Commission recommended pay scale to Medical Officers and ignored our demands,'' Mr Mohapatra.

He said the Pay Commission had recommended equal pay scale for both the service and almost almost all states had already adhered to the norms.

The revised salary structure should have been suo motto applicable to veterinary doctors but it was not despite repeated appeals, he said.

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