Though the State Government has agreed in principle to extend the benefit of Dynamic Assured Career Progression (DACP) scheme to all allopathic doctors of State health services, the specialist doctors are apprehensive that the Government could withdraw the special increments it gives to them if it agrees to implement DACP. The association of Government doctors, the Provincial Medical Health Services (PMHS), fought a long battle with the State Government for implementation of DACP.
The association demanded DACP on the plea that since the number of doctors in the health services is very less the Government should make it more attractive for more doctors to join it. The State Government extended the benefit of DACP last year but limited it to the new doctors prompting an agitation by the PMHS.
The Government finally relented this month and declared that the scheme would be implemented across the board from April this year. It is pertinent to mention here that the doctors with additional qualifications apart from basic MBBS degree are rewarded with extra increments at the time they joining the service. A diploma fetches a doctor three increments while degree and super-specialization means five and seven increments respectively to the doctors.
One of a senior doctor told The Pioneer that although the State Government has agreed on DACP, it has also constituted a high power committee to recommend its implementation part, now there is real threat that the government could withdraw the benefit of additional increments. The specialists have a point since the doctors of state services also get benefit of Non Practice Allowance (NPA) which is 25 percent of basic salary and 20 Percent hill allowance and if the government decides to extend DACP also, then the already high salary of doctors would further increase which would be more than any other cadre, sure to cause heartburn.
The DACP means assured increase in grade pay of the doctors after 4, 9, 13 and 20 years of the service. It is learnt that senior bureaucrats are also against extending all sort of salary increments to doctors. One doctor said that with all these increments the salary of a additional director level officer of health services (doctor) would be more than that of additional Chief Secretary. More than 40 percent doctors in the health services are specialists and most of them were not in favor of DACP, last year the PMHS was on verge of bifurcation over the issue.
The President of PMHS, Dr S K Goswami however brushed aside the apprehension of specialist doctors and said that no compromise would be made with the existing facilities during implementation of DACP.
