Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers' Association (KGMCTA) has come out against the previous LDF government, questioning why medical college doctors were denied legitimate salary arrears amounting to ₹410 crore despite claims by former Finance Minister KN Balagopal that the state treasury had a balance of ₹6,000 crore when the government demitted office.

In a statement, the association said doctors in government medical colleges were denied salary arrears due to them for the period from January 2016 to September 2020, even as employees in other government departments reportedly received their dues in full.

According to KGMCTA, medical college doctors were subjected to discriminatory treatment and denied benefits they were legally entitled to, while arrears owed to other categories of government employees were cleared.

The association said doctors were eventually forced to launch protests despite being reluctant to inconvenience patients. KGMCTA had withdrawn a prolonged agitation, including the suspension of outpatient services and surgeries, after receiving assurances from the government that the salary arrears would be paid.

However, the association alleged that the government later cited financial constraints and failed to honour its commitment. It claimed that a file recommending payment of the arrears, approved by the secretaries of the Finance, Health and Law departments and submitted before the election code of conduct came into force, was not acted upon by the then finance minister.

KGMCTA also challenged claims that the previous government lacked the funds to make the payment. It said the then finance minister had repeatedly assured the association that the arrears would be settled in full, but those assurances were never fulfilled.

The association said the claim of a ₹6,000 crore treasury balance has caused resentment among its members and raised serious questions about why doctors' salary arrears were withheld if sufficient funds were available.

According to KGMCTA, settling the arrears of teachers, including doctors in the medical education sector, would have required only about ₹410 crore. The association urged the public to consider why this amount was not released if the treasury indeed had a balance of ₹6,000 crore.

The organisation said medical college doctors played a critical role during public health emergencies such as the Nipah outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic, often working tirelessly and risking their lives to protect the public. It noted that while many countries and states provided additional incentives to doctors during the pandemic, Kerala's medical college doctors were allegedly denied even benefits that were rightfully due to them.

KGMCTA expressed hope that the present government would address the issue, as it had done in other cases involving withheld benefits. The association said it expects the government to take steps to settle the pending salary arrears without further delay.

The organisation also said recent meetings between its office-bearers and Chief Minister VD Satheesan and Health Minister K Muraleedharan had given it reason to hope for a positive resolution to its long-pending demands, including the settlement of salary arrears owed to medical college doctors.