No end in sight to Manipal Hospital row
Agitating docs, management sticking to guns
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POKHARA, SEP 22 -
The ongoing strike at Pokhara-based Manipal Teaching Hospital is staying on as the talks brokered by a government committee between the agitating doctors and the management went pear-shaped.
Nepali doctors at the hospital are on strike since last week to protest what they call ‘managerial disparity’ in salary and facilities between Nepali and Indian doctors.
The committee led by Joint-Secretary of Ministry for Labour Purna Chandra Bhattarai returned to the Capital on Tuesday after the three rounds of negotiation ended inconclusively. “An agreement couldn’t be reached, as the Manipal management was not ready to address the demands pressed by the Nepali doctors and the agitators were not ready to give in.” Bhattarai said lack of uniformity in salary was the bone of contention and the management side was unwilling to revise the payscale immediately, as demanded by the agitating side.
Dr Serendra Raj Upreti, chief of Health Ministry’s Curative Service Division, said the committee did not find major cases of discrimination at the hospital, except a few ones. “We couldn’t find out whether or not they count as discrimination.”
The agitating doctors claim that there is a three-fold difference in the pay between them and Indian doctors. “The only reason behind the pay disparity is being Nepali citizens and we have been raising our voices against this discrimination since the past four years,” said Dr Dipak Prasad Koirala.
The hospital management, meanwhile, said the pay difference of the doctors was true only in case of medical specialists unavailable in the country, who are appointed for a short term services.
The agitating doctors have announced that they would continue the strike and step up their protests in the coming days.
Established in 1994 by Manipal Education Medical Group of India, the hospital has 36 Nepali and 33 foreign doctors.
Posted on: 2011-09-22 09:08
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