The body representing the government doctors of Haryana — the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMS) — on Monday, January 1, said that the state government has agreed to fulfill few of their demands and has given positive assurance regarding the rest, according to PTI reports.

What were the demands?
The doctors' body had demanded for:
a) Formation of a specialist cadre for doctors
b) Reduction in the bond amount for postgraduate courses
c) A dynamic assured career progression (ACP) scheme at par with central government doctors
d) No direct recruitment of senior medical officers (SMOs)

The doctors on Monday, January 1, met with the health department officials including the Additional Chief Secretary (Health) and Director General of Health Services, where a conclusion was reached regarding the aforementioned demands.

Second strike in a week
On Friday, December 29, 2023, the doctors in Haryana went on a day-long strike for the second time in a week, impacting outpatient department (OPD) services in a few hospitals.

HCMS General Secretary Dr Anil Yadav said that the meeting with the ministers went well and they were assured that two of their demands will be fulfilled very soon. One is that the bond amount will be reduced to Rs 50 lakh from Rs 1 crore and a file in this regard will be moved soon.

The second demand shall be considered very soon regarding the stoppage of direct recruitment of the Senior Medical Officers (SMOs). "Earlier, the department was not agreeing that direct recruitment of SMOs should be stopped. Today, we have been given to understand this demand will now be met and service rules in this regard would be amended," he said.

He further added that a decision will be taken against the rest of the demands in the presence of the Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) and also involve Health Minister Anil Vij.

The doctors' body had last week threatened to launch an indefinite strike and shut down all services if their demands were not met soon.