The Nagaland government said a mass casual leave is likely to cause severe disruption in health services.
The Nagaland government has said no to leave for doctors who have declared a three-day "mass casual leave" next week in support of their demand for an increase in retirement age from 60 years to 62 years. The state government has decided not to approve any casual leave to the doctors, officials said on Thursday.
In an order, Nagaland Chief Secretary J Alam said no one shall be granted casual leave from April 18 to 20, when the Nagaland In-Service Doctors Association (NIDA) has called upon its members to proceed on mass casual leave.
The move was decided after a meeting yesterday between the Chief Secretary and the leaders of the NIDA (Nagaland In-Service Doctors' Association).
An official statement said that Nagaland Government Servants Conduct Rules, 1968, prohibits government servants from participating or abetting any form of strike, including mass casual leave.
"There is no statutory provision empowering the employees to go on strike. The Supreme Court has also in several judgements agreed that going on strike is a grave misconduct under the Conduct Rules and should be dealt with, in accordance with the law," the statement said.
It said that maintenance of public health and sanitation including hospitals and dispensaries are essential services under the Nagaland Essential Services (Maintenance) Act, 1978.
The statement also mentioned that the proposed mass casual leave is likely to cause severe disruption in medical care and public health services and is, therefore, liable to endanger the lives, health and security of the people of the state.