HT Correspondent
DIMAPUR, Nov 3: The Nagaland government on Thursday directed the state health and family welfare principal director, chief medical officers and medical superintendents not to sanction any leave to any government medical officers or health care professionals.
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The government issued the directive in view of the Nagaland In-Service Doctors Association (NIDA) resorting to indefinite strike since October 28 demanding increase in their superannuation age from 60 to 62 years.
It was also directed that no government medical doctors will communicate with members of the press in matters not connected with their discharge of official duty. Failure to comply with the instructions will be liable to disciplinary action in addition to deduction of pay for the unauthorised absence on the principle of “no work no pay”, the government said.
The government has decided to activate certain measures at various levels to manage and mitigate the likely impact of such unauthorised absence of a large number of government medical doctors and ensure that the health services are not disrupted for the citizens.
It said a state level control room with dedicated helpline will be set up for coordination and real time monitoring of the situation. The control room will be overseen by the health and family welfare department principal director. It will inter alia assist the principal director to enforce the instructions and provide guidance to any individual needing access to health care facilities during the period.
At the district level, a district level control room under the chairmanship of an officer not below the level of ADC or SDO (Civil) and consisting of officers from medical and other departments for coordination and real time monitoring of the situation in respective districts will be set up. The control room will be in constant touch with the state level control room and provide regular status updates for effective monitoring.
The government said the chief medical officer in consultation with the respective deputy commissioner will re-deploy all available contractual or temporary and AYUSH doctors or any other health care professional in various facilities in the district to fill the gap due to anticipated unauthorised absence of doctors to ensure that all routine and essential services including OPD, IPD, emergency services are not impacted.
The deputy commissioners have been directed also to ensure that the chief medical officers and the medical superintendents and their subordinate officers follow the directions.
