Karnataka resident doctors call off strike after Health Minister's assurance

Bengaluru: Around 5000 resident doctors and interns across Karnataka who went on strike, primarily demanding a restructuring of the academic fees and sanctioning of the Covid-19 allowance funds have called off their protest after Health Minister K Sudhakar's assurance.

The representatives of the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) had submitted a memorandum to the Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar at the Mysore Medical College and Research Institute.

Speaking to the Medical Dialogues, the president of Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors, Namratha C, said, "We have called off the protest in view of the positive note from the minister's side. He has told that the funds will be released very soon, and regarding our academic fees, a discussion will take place and funds will be released very soon. And in a view of positive note, we have called off the strike."

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The primary demands of the resident doctors are:

• Immediate release of the COVID-19 risk allowance that the government had announced many months back which the doctors are yet to receive. The allowance was sanctioned on May 16 and it has reportedly been around 6 months since then and inspite of making repeated representations on this issue, the order was still on paper.
• A restructuring of the academic fees as per the 2018-19 academic year since the fees has been increased very heavily. They said the fees have increased from 30,000 to 1,30,000 . The present amount is one of the highest among government medical colleges and they only receive a stipend of Rs 45,000, which they claim to be the lowest among all the colleges in India, according to an India Today report.
• They are also demanding a timely payment of the stipend to junior resident doctors and interns.

Detailing the demands of the doctors, the president further told Medical Dialogue, "Our demands were that COVID incentives which were supposed to be given from past 18 months, and the order has been passed since the month of May, but since past 6 months no funds have been released from the government side. We had requested the immediate release of COVID funds. And our academic fees was also very high, which got a hike from 30,000 to 1,30,000. We have further demanded the restructuring of the academic fees as it was in the year 2018. And few doctors and interns who are working for the past four- five months, they were not given stipend. So the solution to all this is the release of the funds from the government."

The strike began from 9 AM on October 7, with many of them boycotting the Out-Patient Department and the elective services. According to a media report in The Hindu, the president of the Association said that around 5000 young doctors took part in the strike across Karnataka. Many post-graduate doctors and interns of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) had protested in front of the OPD block holding placards and shouting slogans. They demanded the government to immediately address their grievances.

Ensuring that the emergency services, ICU's and COVID-19 services were not disturbed, she further told the daily that the junior doctors had gathered in their respective colleges and those on emergency duties continued with their daily duties.

Speaking about the future course of action, the president further told Medical Dialogues, "We have given some time. If in that time, there is no response from the government's side, then we will have to escalate our protest."

Two months back, the Medical Dialogues team had reported on the week long protest staged by the resident doctors of Karnataka demanding reduction in tuition fees, formation of legal cell to look into violence against medical professionals and the COVID-19 risk allowance.

Also Read: Karnataka resident doctors hold protest, demand fee reduction, COVID risk allowance