Odisha Government invoked OESMA to prohibit doctors’ strike for six months as over 6,000 government doctors continued OPD work boycott across the state
OdishaPlus Bureau
With more than 6,000 doctors stationed in government-operated hospitals throughout Odisha continuing their two-hour cessation of work from outpatient department (OPD) services, the Odisha Government on Tuesday invoked the provisions of the Orissa Essential Services Maintenance Act (OESMA), thereby prohibiting the ongoing doctors’ strike for the next six months.
The doctors, who are demanding revised salaries aligned with the Central pay structure, initiated a two-hour OPD boycott starting yesterday after multiple discussions between the government and the medical professionals failed to yield results.
The Odisha Medical Services Association (OMSA) has denounced the government’s action to ban the strike, labeling it an autocratic bureaucratic decision aimed at suppressing the legitimate demands of the doctors.
According to an order issued by the State’s Home Department, this prohibition will remain in effect for a duration of six months starting today.
“In the interest of the public, it is essential to prohibit strikes manifested as work stoppages by doctors, nursing officers, pharmacy officers, other paramedics, technicians, class-III and class-IV employees, including contractual staff involved in the maintenance of medical services in government hospitals and dispensaries across the state, such as District Headquarters Hospitals, Sub-Divisional Hospitals, Area Hospitals, Community Health Centers, Primary Health Centers, Municipality Hospitals, and medical colleges and hospitals operated by the government and other autonomous health institutions receiving state government grants, specifically including Acharya Harihar Regional Cancer Centre, Regional Spinal Injury Centre, as well as Jail Hospitals and Police Hospitals, to ensure that the healthcare delivery system in the state remains unaffected and uninterrupted,” the order stated.
