15 April 2019, Kathmandu
After the Ministry of Health and Population has agreed to address most of their demands, the agitating government doctors have decided to suspend their nationwide strike for two weeks.
In an informal meeting of Government Doctors’ Association of Nepal, Nepal Medical Association and the ministry on Saturday evening, it was agreed that the ministry would create “pool posts” for doctors who take educational leave, offer paid educational leave, and depute consultant doctors in health facilities where specialists could use their expertise.
It was also agreed that local units as well as the ministry could hire doctors to fill the vacancies left by the doctors on educational leave.
As the ministry has asked for two weeks to implement the decisions, the government doctors have also suspended their strike for the period.
A meeting of Government Doctors Association of Nepal decided to suspend the ongoing strike on Sunday.
“We have decided to resume our services by wearing black armbands for two weeks,” Dr Dipendra Pandey, chairman of the association told.
He also noted that Saturday’s meeting was informal and no agreement was signed.
Government doctors across the country were on a strike for the past eight days, demanding amendments to some provisions in the Civil Servants Adjustment Bill. The strike had affected thousands of patients across the country.
One of their chief demands was amending a provision in the bill which, the agitating doctors say, limits their career prospects by bringing them under the ambit of local governments.
