AYUSH doctors working in rural areas as frontline workers in the COVID-19 battle have urged the State government to recognise them by regularising their services.
These doctors, who have degrees in Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Siddha and Unani, have been working on contract basis in primary healthcare centres in villages for 10 to 14 years now. They said they have no job security and other allowances or benefits, and they are not treated equal to modern medicine graduates who work in government hospitals and handle equal responsibilities.
Of the 657 AYUSH doctors on government duty, most are in village clinics. Some are deputed to taluk and district hospitals too. “After the recent reshuffling of doctors, 456 are working in village clinics, 124 in taluk hospitals, and 18 in district hospitals. Now, over 90% of us are on COVID-19 duty. It is high time our services are acknowledged,” said Harsha Patil, an AYUSH doctor. “The State government is oblivious to our existence. It does not know that AYUSH doctors are managing village clinics. It has no plan for our welfare. There has been no response to our repeated pleas to successive governments.”
“Some of our colleagues approached the High Court seeking directions to the State to regularise our services. The High Court directed regularisation of AYUSH doctors in the case of Dr. Vaishali vs. AYUSH Directorate, 2016. But even after four years, the government is yet to implement the order,” Dr. Patil said.
S. Ravi Kumar, another doctor, pointed out the inequality in remuneration. “We started with consolidated salaries of ₹5,000 about 14 years ago. Now we get a consolidated salary of ₹19,404. This is several times lower than what an allopathic medicine graduate gets, while the responsibilities we share are the same. This goes against the principle of equal pay for equal work,” he said.
Surekha Kudchi, a doctor at a village PHC, said it is the AYUSH doctor who screens patients in flu clinics, goes door to door in medical surveillance teams, and on other COVID-19 duties. “We will be forced to quit and take up private practice if our services are not regularised.”
