Thiruvananthapuram, October 20 (IANS). Doctors in government medical colleges in Kerala on Monday boycotted out-patient (OP) services, while the services of junior doctors and postgraduate doctors in medical colleges will continue.
The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) has said that the strike has been called after no concrete action has been taken despite repeated appeals to the government.
He said that our demands include implementing pay revision, appointing adequate doctors in proportion to the number of patients and stopping arbitrary transfers. If our demands are not accepted, there may be a bigger movement in the future.
On October 2, KGMCTA had organized a state-wide candle-lighting protest and dharna at 6.30 pm in all medical colleges to show the growing frustration among the faculty. This was followed by a statewide protest on October 10, in which the union warned that it would take more stringent action if the government did not take any action.
There are 12 government medical colleges in Kerala that offer MBBS programmes, with a total of 1,755 MBBS seats. These institutions form the backbone of the state’s medical education and form an important part of its public healthcare network.
A protesting doctor told IANS, “We are raising long-pending issues, including outstanding salaries, pending dearness allowance arrears, discrepancies in entry-level cadre salaries and non-creation of new teaching posts in recently established medical colleges. Instead of increasing the number of faculty members, transfers of existing staff have further aggravated the shortage, affecting both medical education and patient care.”
KGMCTA officials said these challenges have also hindered the induction of young doctors into the system. The faculty had earlier staged a “Black Day” protest on 22 September and a statewide sit-in on 23 September.
He said that despite assurances from the state cabinet, no concrete steps have been taken to fulfill their demands. The association has warned that if the issues remain unresolved, they will launch a series of strikes, which reflects the growing unrest among medical college faculties demanding fair wages, staffing and better working conditions.
–IANS
SAK/DSC