BANGALORE: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said he is willing to hold talks with the agitating doctors in the state. Over 4,000 doctors affiliated to the State Government Medical Officers’ Association have threatened to resign en masse on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, the Chief Minister said the government was doing everything to resolve the deadlock. “Health Minister U T Khader has been holding talks with the doctors,” he said, expressing confidence of resolving the pay parity issue.
The doctors have been demanding to scale up the salaries of those working in the department on par with those serving in state-run teaching hospitals. Khader has already made it clear that the government cannot pay the salary of a postgraduate medical professional to a government doctor who has completed MBBS.
Siddaramaiah said that if any of the medical officers want to talk to him, he was willing to meet them to put an early end to the crisis.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP has asked doctors not to resign and urged them to attend to patients in their respective hospitals. Speaking to reporters, BJP spokesperson Suresh Kumar assured the doctors that the BJP will take up their cause both in the legislature and outside.