The doctors’ fraternity is not happy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s declaration of hike in retirement age from 60 to 65 years. They dubbed it to be a punishment for those who are on the verge of retirement.

Why a doctor wants early retirement is age factor and workload. Many senior doctors while virulently protesting the Prime Minister’s proposal urged upon the Central Government to rollback its decision.

“There is an acute shortage of doctors in the State and all over the country. But has any Government, including the present one at the Centre headed by Modi, tried to find out where are the medical students after completing education goingIJ” asked many senior doctors.  “The seats in all the medical colleges are increased very often, while many new medical colleges are also coming up. But why are they not serving in the Government hospitals and medical collegesIJ” they asked further.

“We are ready to serve the nation and the people of it. But serving at the age of 65 will be difficult and the tendency of cheating will grow in the noble profession due to health factor,” they opined.

However, looking into the gravity of the situation, a few doctors suggested that they should be given duty only in specialized and outdoor services, but not for the routine emergency duty at night which is normally the job of the young doctors.

The case of medical colleges is different as the seniors have very many juniors behind them. But the situation is not the same in Government hospitals where senior doctors have to do everything. At time they have to sit on floor for the treatment of the patients who couldn’t be accommodated in beds due to shortage of beds in hospital. “But can it be possible after 60 yearsIJ” they asked. Serving patients in hospital is not the same as serving the country as a politician, they said.

“Before making a political declaration, Modi needs to know the ground reality than making efforts to gain political mileage on the completion of two years in the Government,” they added. They further suggested Modi to explore the reason as to why a good chunk of the passing out doctors all over the country is not joining Government jobs since last 15 years.