One of the major issues smoldering in RCC since long is the organisation’s pension plan, which the employees have been vehemently opposing as “unviable and inequitable”.
Several litigations about the scheme are pending in the High Court, yet the RCC management is alleged to be implementing it forcefully, even refusing to give appointment orders, unless the staff member enroll in the scheme.
At a meeting with the Health Secretary in December 2020, it was decided that the scheme be sent for an acturial analysis and that a professional agency engaged in fund management be selected for formulating a new pension scheme suitable to an institution like the RCC. Nearly two years later, RCC management has allegedly done little to address the grievance, Doctors’ Association of RCC says.
Doctors are upset that the RCC administration has scarcely done anything to rectify the anomalies in the salary matrix of doctors following the implementation of the 7th pay commission recommendations. Following a recent GO, doctors have been denied TA and their HRA has been capped. Freezing of promotion interviews and the disparity in retirement age between professors and other doctors have also contributed to the growing list of grievances.
“Since 2016, we have been drawing a lower salary and requesting this correction. The issue is being ignored by the government because we are apparently a “society”, while the RCC website claims that we are a State-owned institute. Hence, we have no medical reimbursement, our terminal retirement benefits are taxable, we have absolutely no private practice and none of the State benefits,” the association says.
When contacted, the Additional Director (Administration), A. Sajeed, says all the issues pointed out by doctors are matters that affect everyone and are under the government’s consideration currently.
“ It is only a question of process delay,” he says.
Doctors at RCC, who were planning a protest on July 1, Doctors’ Day, were dissuaded by the government with the promise that they would soon parley with the doctors.
At the heart of all issues is the fact that RCC is not generating enough revenue to sustain itself. About 80% of the patients coming to RCC are poor and opt for treatment under the cashless Karunya insurance scheme. Only about 5% of patients belong to the paying category and even this base is eroding now because of the difficulties for patients to get timely care. The government owes crores to public hospitals as Karunya reimbursement, a fate RCC shares. The current cost-cutting mode that RCC is running on is only hurting patient care.
It appears that if the government “ignores” the problems plaguing the RCC, it could perhaps signal the beginning of the end of an institute that has been the face of Kerala’s cancer care for close to four decades.
