Following a closed door meeting of the association in Patiala, the members have decided to stand against the discriminatory treatment of the government in recruiting doctors.

RMSA state president Dr Aslam Pervez told Newsline that Health Secretary TR Sarangal would be shown black flags throughout the state. Parvez further claimed that doctors working in rural areas felt cheated due to the decision of the government.

“We met Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla to oppose the decision but nothing has been done so far. We demanded her to stop amendment in the PPSC rules through which she is trying to bring about a major change in the basic qualification of PCMS doctors recruited through PPSC. The Health Minister did not pay any heed to our demands following which our members staged a walkout,” said Pervez.

“The Health Minister is acting irresponsibly in claiming that PPSC would be recruiting 147 medical specialists with basic qualification of MD and MS while MBBS doctors would be given contractual jobs in the Health Department,” the RMSA president alleged. “We demand that entry-level qualification for PCMS doctors should remain MBBS as earlier and only MBBS doctors should be recruited through PPSC. All the 1,193 rural medical officers who are working under zila parishads for nearly two years throughout Punjab should also be regularised,” he added.