Chandigarh [India], December 9 (ANI): The Haryana government has invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to restrict the Haryana Civil Medical Services (HCMS) doctors’ strike, prohibiting doctors and Health Department employees from going on strike for six months.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of Section 4(a) of the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act, 1974, the Governor of Haryana hereby prohibits any strike by doctors and any other category of staff working under the Health Department, Haryana, for a period of six months from the date of publication of this order in the Official Gazette,” the notice issued by the Haryana Chief Secretary read.
Haryana Governor Ashim Kumar Ghosh issued the order after the strike disrupted public health and essential services. The order stated that any strike by doctors or other Health Department staff would seriously affect patient care and the uninterrupted provision of essential medical services to the public.
Meanwhile, the Director General of Health Services in Haryana issued an order suspending the salaries of employees on strike under the “no work, no pay” principle. “As per the instructions issued by the government, the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy is applicable to the striking employees/officers. Therefore, you are directed not to release the salaries of the doctors who participated in the strike until further orders,” the order said.
Earlier on Monday, Haryana Minister Arti Singh Rao stated that doctors had gone on a two-day strike over several demands. She added that the government had accepted some of the demands and was in discussions on the remaining ones.
“We are deploying doctors from many places. We have deployed all our National Health Mission doctors and Ayushman Bharat doctors. There is no place where OPD, IPD, or emergency services are not running. They called for a two-day strike, and the government has agreed to the demands we could; the remaining demands are still under discussion,” Rao said.
She added, “The government is under considerable pressure to meet the demands. We will continue discussions with the doctors, and if a conclusion is reached, this strike will end soon. Our services are running smoothly. We have set up war rooms in every district to ensure operations continue seamlessly.”
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