Rajasthan Govt invokes RESMA against doctors

Rajasthan government has invoked the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) on all the medical services in state. According to a notification released by the government, all the medical services in state have now been declared essential services. The order will be in force for the next three months. However, the in-service doctors' association has announced to proceed on mass leave from Tuesday for two days and doctors are determined to resign en mass on July 14. On Monday, the talks of doctors with the three-member committee of ministers failed as no consensus could be reached. As the government has invoked RESMA, the undeterred doctors are now readying themselves for imminent arrest.
"We are going ahead with the mass leave programme for the next two days and will resign en mass on July 14 if government fails to accept our demands. Government can arrest all the doctors if they want but we are not going back on our demands," Dr GD Maheshwari, state president of All Rajasthan In-service Doctors' Association, said. The in-service doctors are demanding a pay package similar to that of doctors employed under the Central government health services (CGHS) with a dynamic assured career progress scheme (DACP). They are also demanding a separate cadre for civil medical services in the state and to remove health services from the department under panchayati raj department.