Agartala, Jul 4 (PTI) Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Saturday urged the faculty members and medical officers of the GBP Hospital and Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) to accept the government’s decision barring them from private practice.
Saha, who also holds the Health and Family Welfare portfolio, made the appeal amid opposition from doctors’ organisations and criticism from opposition parties over the proposed move.
Addressing the National Doctors’ Day programme at Pragya Bhavan here, the chief minister said the government intends to develop GBP Hospital and AGMC into a centre of excellence.
“The GBP Hospital and AGMC has already signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with AIIMS, New Delhi, for the overall development of healthcare
services at the state’s biggest healthcare institution. A provision prohibiting faculty members and medical officers from private practice is included in the MoA. We want to make it a centre of excellence,” he said.
Saha asserted that the government was not looking for a confrontation with the medical fraternity and assured that suggestions submitted by various doctors’ organisations would be taken into consideration while implementing the decision.
The All Tripura Government Doctors’ Association (ATGDA) and the AGMC Teachers’ Forum have demanded revision of recruitment rules and time-bound promotions before GBP Hospital and AGMC are declared non-practising institutions.
The chief minister said several states, including Bihar, Maharashtra, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, have already prohibited private practice by government doctors.
“There was a decision to ban private practice by faculty members and medical officers when the state’s first medical college (AGMC) was established in 2005, but it could not be implemented,” he said.
Saha also assured that the government would provide a non-practising allowance (NPA) equivalent to 20 per cent of the basic pay to faculty members and medical professionals at the institution in line with the recommendations of the Seventh Central Pay Commission.
He said the allowance could increase further once the recommendations of the Eighth Central Pay Commission are implemented. PTI PS SOM
