Ludhiana: Veterinary doctors stage sit-in at district clinic, push for pay parity

Veterinary doctors on Monday staged a sit-in at the district veterinary polyclinic here, located on Gill road, demanding pay parity in line with medical officers.
Under the banner of joint action committee for pay parity, the veterinarians suspended routine treatments, elective surgeries and sample testing for the day. Emergency and vetero-legal cases were however attended during the protest.
The protest aimed at Punjab government’s lack of response to their demand.
The protesting veterinarians expressed anger over the state government’s inactivity to repeal the decision of the previous Congress government’s to reduce the entry pay scale of veterinary officers from ₹56,100 to ₹47,600, implemented on January 4 this year.
According to Gurcharan Singh, convener of joint action committee (JAC), the previous government disrupted the long-standing pay parity of veterinary officers with medical and dental officers, which had been in place for 40 years. However, despite being in power for over two years, the AAP-led Punjab government has not taken any concrete action to revoke it which is why the joint action committee has decided to initiate a struggle.
Singh condemned the state government for repeatedly postponing scheduled meetings with the JAC.
The JAC was scheduled to meet the finance minister on September 17, but the meeting was cancelled.
A subsequent meeting scheduled with the ministers’ sub-committee on September 27 was again postponed to October 22. This series of delays has deepened the veterinarians’ discontent. “The government’s refusal to honor its own commitments is causing our faith in this administration to wane,” Singh added.
Following the sit-in, a protest march was also held.
The JAC has also announced to launch another protest on October 21. “All veterinary services, including OPDs, will be halted except for emergency cases,” Singh said.