HP Medical Officers' Association representatives meet health minister, demand restoration of NPA

Representatives of the Himachal Pradesh Medical Officer Association (HPMOA) on Saturday met Health Minister Dhani Ram Shandil and apprised him of their demands, including the restoration of the Non-Practicing Allowance (NPA).

The Himachal Pradesh government on Thursday announced that doctors recruited henceforth across departments, including Health and Family Welfare and Animal Husbandry, will not be entitled to NPA.

Shandil said the state government has always been considerate of the demands of the doctors and appreciates their contribution to the development of the state, official statement said.

The minister assured the delegation that the matter related to the restoration of the NPA will be discussed with Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, it said.

The decision to abolish NPA drew a sharp reaction from medical and veterinary associations, who termed it ''anti-people'' and demanded that the notification be withdrawn.

The state government had earlier reduced the NPA from 25 per cent to 20 per cent of the basic pay and now the NPA is being denied to future doctors, they said.

The opposition BJP said the reduction in salary would impact the health system in the state as the doctors would not be inclined to join government jobs.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)