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GMOA doubles down on trade union action, cites minister’s failure to honour agreement
View(s):The Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) is planning to escalate its trade union action despite the hardships and inconvenience caused to outpatients across the country, citing the Health Minister’s failure to adhere to the written agreement and the timeline that was agreed upon during the previous discussion.
GMOA Secretary Dr Prabath Sugathadasa told the Sunday Times that they would meet on Wednesday with Medical Officers (MOs) and Additional Medical Officers (AMOs) from all districts to discuss heightened trade union action and measures required to minimise inconvenience to patients.
The GMOA has urged specialist-grade medical officers (consultants) to withdraw from cover duties and perform only their officially assigned responsibilities, in support of the union’s demand that doctors be recognised as an exclusive service category within the Sri Lanka Medical Service, with a distinct salary structure comparable to that of the judiciary and the Attorney General’s Department.
Among the union’s other demands are the restoration of duty-free concessions to import vehicles, which they say is a necessity to serve the patients around the clock; the benefits outlined in the Public Administration Circular 22/99, which provides drivers, vehicles, and fuel to state-sector executive officers but excludes medical professionals; and solutions to the crisis involving a lack of surgical consumables and drugs owing to procurement delays and poor distribution.
The union says drugs are sometimes available in stores but do not reach hospitals.
The GMOA also wants the DAT (Disturbance, Availability, and Transport) Allowance to be converted into a fixed allowance and added to their salary to avoid what it calls administrative harassment. It points out that calculations suggest that state-sector doctors need to receive Rs 270,000, but they receive only Rs 70,000. The union demands an immediate increase, pointing out that the Treasury in 2018 recommended a salary scale of Rs 120,000.
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