The state government on Saturday appealed to the Nagaland In-Service Doctors’ Association (NIDA) withdraw its proposed agitation and instead join hands with the government to find an early solution to the issue.
The appeal was made after chief secretary, J Alam along with senior officials held a meeting with representatives of NIDA, which announced its decision to resort to mass casual leave with effect from April 12 onwards, followed by indefinite cessation of works.
At the meeting, the chief secretary (CS) explained that the Cabinet in its last meeting on April 7 had deferred the matter for further consultation and that the matter was not closed, but still under consideration.
The chief secretary further explained that the government has been actively considering the matter since it was reopened in December 2020, and taken up by the Cabinet twice, besides having a consultation with the student body through the cabinet sub-committee headed by the deputy chief minister. It was also impressed upon NIDA that Nagaland, like the rest of the country, was battling the Covid pandemic for over one year while the second wave was staring at us.
CS also pointed out that the need to intensify the vaccination drive, testing, tracking and treatment of Covid cases without any disruption. Since the Disaster Management Act, 2005 was still in force and the health services being an essential service under the Nagaland Essential Services (Maintenance Act, 1978) such disruptive action will be illegal, the chief secretary said, adding that the disruption in health services would be extremely detrimental for the general public at this point of time.
CS further assured the officials and members of NIDA that all efforts will be made so that the consultation process was fast tracked.
He also invited to be part of the consultations, to jointly review on a fortnightly basis, and work closely with the government to resolve the matter in an amicable manner.
On April 8, NIDA announced its decision to intensify its ongoing symbolic protest until the cabinet takes a decision on increasing the retirement age of State government doctors.
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