Govt. agrees to pay DAT allowance increase; docs call off scheduled strike

By Rathindra Kuruwita

Government doctors yesterday decided to call of their strike scheduled for today following the withdrawal of a Health Ministry circular issued by Dr Asela Gunawardena, Director General of Health Services informing all directors of government hospitals and heads of health institutions that the government had temporarily suspended the DAT allowance for January.

The Health Ministry said the Treasury had not allocated the necessary funds.

Dr. Gunawardena said that Health Secretary Dr. P.G. Mahipala would hold discussions with Treasury officials on the matter.

In response, the Government Medical Officers’ Association (GMOA) decided to launch an indefinite strike from 08.00 a.m. on Wednesday (24).

On 08 Jan, the Cabinet of Ministers approved President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s proposal to increase the DAT allowance paid to government doctors from Rs 35,000 to Rs 70,000.

A number of health sector unions carried out a series of strikes last week against the decision to increase the DAT allowance of doctors only.