As the statewide medical strike stretched into its third day and further crippled healthcare operations across Odisha, the state government extended an invitation to the protesting physicians for talks on Saturday while appealing them to immediately return to work.
The outreach to the office-bearers of the Odisha Medical Services Association (OMSA) came just a day after the medical personnel stood their ground, dismissing a strict government warning that threatened to withhold the salaries of regular staff and terminate contractual or ad hoc practitioners taking part in the protest.
“The Minister for Health and Family Welfare will discuss OMSA’s various grievances at 11 am this Saturday in his office. You are requested to take part in the meeting at the scheduled time and take steps to reinstate standard medical operations,” stated a letter sent to the association’s president, Kishore Chandra Mishra.
Nearly 8,000 medical practitioners under the banner of OMSA have have been on a cease-work agitation since Wednesday, impacting district headquarters hospitals alongside secondary and rural health facilities.
The protesting doctors are demanding to introduce several key reforms, including organizational restructuring, the execution of the KBK (Kalahandi-Balangir-Koraput) region exit guidelines, a more transparent transfer framework, institutional insurance cover, incentives and Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) benefits on the lines of the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS).
According to current regulations, medical staff stationed in the KBK zone are obligated to fulfill a three-year stint. The association, however, alleged that a substantial number of physicians are routinely left in these posts well past their mandatory service timeframe.
With the demonstration persisting despite Health Minister Mukesh Mahaling’s appeal to resume duty, the department of health and family welfare instructed all medical directors on Thursday to freeze the pay of regular doctors participating in the strike.
The department additionally ordered senior officials to issue formal notices and sever ties with temporary and ad hoc medical workers joining the strike, according to an official letter.
In response to the administration’s hardline approach, Mishra remarked that the association was unfazed by what he labelled a hollow “warning.”
“The association has met the health minister several times over the past few months, but the government ignored our demands,” Mishra said.
“As the government ignored our genuine demands, we were forced to go on an indefinite strike. Unless we receive a written assurance on our demands, we will continue our protest. If anything happens to any patient, the government will be held responsible,” he told reporters.
Mishra further appealed to the chief minister to step in personally, hold discussions with the protesting doctors, and review their grievances.
The opposition BJD, meanwhile, targeted the ruling BJP administration over its management of the crisis, calling on Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to directly step in and resolve the deadlock.
“Healthcare services in the state have completely collapsed due to the government’s incompetence. The government is playing with the lives of patients,” BJD senior vice-president and former health minister Debi Prasad Mishra said.
He further asserted that rather than addressing the rightful requirements of the medical community, the authorities chose to respond with threats of administrative penalties.
“The government should take appropriate steps to fulfil the demands of OMSA,” Mishra told reporters.
Rejecting the charge, Odisha BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal accused the BJD of politicising the issue.
“It is deeply unfortunate that the BJD is attempting to politicise a sensitive healthcare issue at the cost of innocent patients’ lives while provoking doctors for political gains,” Biswal said.
“Healthcare should never become a tool for partisan politics. This is the time for responsibility, cooperation and putting patients first, not political opportunism,” he added.
