Report to duty or face action: BJMC Dean warns protesting medicos demanding stipend hike
Ahmedabad: Amid the ongoing protest of the resident doctors at Ahmedabad Civil Hospital demanding a 40% stipend hike, the State Government has asked the protesting doctors to report for duty or face disciplinary action.
The Dean of BJ Medical College Dr Hansa Goswami issued a notice on Monday evening asking the protesting medicos to join duties by Tuesday. Further, the Dean also wrote to Shahibaug police seeking to take "preventive steps to ensure no unfortunate events take place", Indian Express has reported.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that around 1,200 resident doctors belonging to Ahmedabad Civil Hospital in Gujarat went on an indefinite strike on Monday demanding a stipend hike.
Even though the State recently increased the stipend by 20%, as per the protesting doctors, the State Health Department failed to fulfill its promise of a 40 percent stipend hike.
Due to the strike, services were affected despite the authorities making alternate arrangements in the view of the strike, with patients and kin complaining of long wait at the Aswara-based facility, which is attached to BJ Medical College.
Writing to the authorities on Sunday, the JDA had mentioned that they will initiate cease work after losing trust in the Government. "We have lost trust in the government. Hence we, all the students of BJ Medical College have been forced to stay away from all our duties on the path shown by Gandhi, from September 2, 2024 (Monday)," the doctors had mentioned.
In the letter, the JDA further pointed out that they had been making representations to the Government for the past six months. According to the representations by the doctors, the stopend of junior doctors get increased by 40% every three months. However, last this stipend increase was done on April 1, 2021. Thereafter, more than 3 years have passed but the doctors are still waiting for the 40% stipend hike. Citing this as the reason, the junior doctors said that their demand was for an increase of 40% in the stipend from April 1 onwards.
"In a meeting with the Health Minister on July 9, 2024, we were assured of a 40% increase in stipend. So the movement was postponed by trusting the democratic government. After 10 to 12 consecutive visits and the last six months of hard work and full faith in the Govt, (it) gave only an unsatisfactory increase of 20%," stated their letter.
Also Read: Gujarat: Thousands of Resident Doctors Cease Work demanding stipend hike
As per the latest media report by Indian Express, after the doctors initiated their strike, the Dean of the institute on Monday evening issued a notice to the protesting doctors warning them "to join their regular duties by 9 am on September 3 or face disciplinary action."
Writing to the police, the Dean mentioned, "The President of the JDA has been informed that their protest is in contravention of government regulations and that disciplinary action could be taken against them. Therefore, this is an intimation to you to take preventive steps to ensure no unfortunate events take place in the medical college and the hospital campus."
Meanwhile, claiming that the faculties and professors were engaging in coercive action to break their strike, one of the protesting doctors told the Times of India, "The faculty members are threatening to not teach us surgery or procedures, not sign our theses, or suspend us from work. The hospital’s work depends on resident doctors. The govt is trying to muzzle our voices, but we will continue the fight. We are aware of the notification asking us to join duty on Tuesday, but our members will not be joining."
Sources informed TOI that the Heads of the Departments have been directed to prepare a lost of absent students from Tuesday onwards. Referring to the ongoing strike, the senior officials at the Civil Hospital informed that due to the protest, the OPDs were reduced by 30% and the planned procedures were reduced by 50%.
Also Read: 25 percent Stipend Hike for Resident Doctors In Karnataka
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