PETALING JAYA: The Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement will hold another protest after claiming that Budget 2022 did not solve the problems of contract doctors.
The movement secretariat said the contract doctor issue and problems in the healthcare system were not taken seriously by Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.
“The Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement believes the government did not take full responsibility in solving this problem.
“The offer that was given did not make sense and was merely a waste of time,” it said in a statement posted on Twitter on Monday (Nov 1) night.
“This discussion has gone on for five years and there is still no solution. The promises of permanent positions with the Employees Provident Fund (contribution) is just bait to get us to stop speaking up.
“After two years contract doctors battled hard against Covid-19, their sacrifices are still not appreciated.
“With this, we, from the Hartal Doktor Kontrak movement declare that Hartal Doktor Kontrak 2.0 will be held as a sign of protest,” they said.
Under Budget 2022, the government had allocated RM100mil to sponsor 3,000 contract medical and dental officers to pursue specialist training as well as extending their contracts from two to four years.
On July 26, Hartal Doktor Kontrak had held a nationwide strike to urge the government to offer contract doctors better terms as well as permanent positions.