Telangana Junior doctors announce indefinite strike from June 24 over unmet demands
Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) has announced an indefinite strike beginning June 24. On Tuesday, the junior doctors met with the Director of Medical Education (DME) and submitted an official strike notice. The junior doctors’ demands include the timely release of stipends. “Despite some proposals in response to our previous strike notice, none of our demands have been fully met,” said T-JUDA in a statement.
“We have consistently demanded the creation of a green channel (budget relaxation) for the timely disbursement of stipends for junior doctors (house surgeons, postgraduates, and senior residents). T-JUDA demands a Government Order (GO) to avoid financial strain on junior doctors and a circular from the finance department to ensure stipends are credited by the 10th of every month,” said Dr. G. Sai Harsha, T-JUDA President.
The honorarium for Super Specialty Senior Residents is another issue. Students who have completed their super-specialty should be appointed to contract assistant professor positions with a salary of ₹1.25 lakh from their appointment date, January 1, 2024. Failing to implement this would compromise their one-year service and deprive them of monetary benefits.
The junior doctors are also seeking a 15% reservation in the NEET UG prospectus. They gave a call for fair admission practices for both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh students, urging that AP students should not join the 15% seats increased in Telangana medical colleges after June 2, 2014.
Another critical issue is security at Government hospitals. Incidents of violence against doctors persist, necessitating the reinforcement of security outposts and strict law enforcement against assailants. The doctors demanded allocation of police personnel and strengthening of existing outposts in all medical college hospitals.
Accommodation shortages for postgraduates, due to the non-commencement of new hostel construction, contravene National Medical Commission (NMC) mandates. The doctors demanded allocation of budget for new hostels and the immediate laying of foundation stones for the buildings.
The delay in constructing a new building for Osmania General Hospital (OGH) also necessitates urgent action to prevent overcrowding and improve patient care standards. The doctors demanded immediate laying of the foundation stone at the new site and budget allocation for the new hospital building.
The increase in government medical colleges in recent years has not been matched by essential infrastructure, the doctors said. Students in distant colleges face difficulties with transportation during field visits and from hostels, which are not on the same campus. The doctors demanded immediate budget allocation and procurement of buses.
They also raised concerns about the roads in Kakatiya Medical College, Warangal. “Multiple representations have been made for laying of roads in KMC. It was assured by the Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha that the roads would be laid post-election code, but there has been no progress. This is a major concern as repeated accidents occur due to improper road infrastructure. We demand immediate construction of these roads,” they said.
Junior doctors in Telangana cancel strike after discussion with Health department
“During the previous strike, we were told that no Government Order (G.O.) could be issued due to the Model Code of Conduct. We were asked to withhold our strike until the election code period had concluded. It has now been almost a month since we issued our previous notice, and despite the passage of time, no significant progress has been made. The lack of action from the authorities has left us with no choice but to resume our strike starting from June 24,” said Dr. Harsha.
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