Doctors in government medical colleges across the State, who have been on an agitation in phases since June last year raising various demands, have launched an indefinite strike, boycotting all outpatient (OP) clinic services.
Though the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) had given notice on the indefinite disruption of OP services from Monday to the authorities and public information notices had been stuck all over hospitals, the information did not seem to have reached the public.
Hundreds of patients who had reached the hospitals seeking OP appointments were rendered medical care by senior residents and medicos, in the absence of senior doctors.
Hunger strike
The striking doctors staged dharnas in all hospitals. Doctors are also on hunger strike, with several members of the KGMCTA taking turns.
Academic activities in medical colleges are already affected, ever since KGMCTA began its indefinite boycott of the same since January 22. All lectures, other teaching activities as well as exams (excluding university exams) are being boycotted by the faculty.
In Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, the college union has already launched a protest against the disruption of academic activities and has demanded that the authorities settle the strike by the faculty. On Monday, the union staged a dharna in front of the office of the Principal demanding immediate resolution of the doctors’ strike so that academic activities are not affected.
The KGMCTA, which has been agitating since July 1 last, demanding pay revision arrears of doctors pending since 2016, rectification of pay revision anomalies at the entry cadre and appointment of more doctors in medical colleges, had declared that they would go on indefinite strike disrupting all patient care services from Monday, if the government did not resolve their issues.
Budget provisions
Previous attempts by the government to settle the strike of doctors had failed, following which the doctors had decided to intensify their strike. The KGMCTA was highly critical of the government’s ‘utter disregard for doctors in the recent State Budget while announcing full payment of DA arrears for all government employees.’
In a statement, the KGMCTA said that they were forced to go on indefinite strike with the government doing nothing to resolve the issues raised by doctors, especially the serious shortage of human resources in medical colleges.
Poor service conditions, huge workload and inadequate pay were already dissuading young medicos from choosing medical education service as a career option. If qualified young doctors did not join medical colleges, the future of these institutions would be in peril. In many vital departments, even temporary appointments were not happening, which was affecting academic as well as patient care services, the statement said.
Negotiations
Most of the new medical colleges in the State were being run through working arrangement by transferring faculty from older medical colleges on rotation basis. The KGMCTA said its strike was to save the government medical colleges and the public health system, which were on the verge of a collapse because of the shortage of human resources. Various professional associations of doctors and students have all pledged their support for the strike.
Meanwhile, according to sources, the government has re-opened negotiations in an attempt to end the strike.
Curated by Dr. Elena Rodriguez
