Rajasthan: Opposing extension of PG duration by 6 months, Resident Doctors threaten indefinite strike

In its letter, the association has raised various demands and also warned that if their demands are not fulfilled by 20th May then they will consider going on an indefinite strike. The final year PG medicos who have already served 3 years of residency sought that their current service duration should be counted as academic senior residency period so that they don't lose months of their academic calendar.

The association demanded that the residency completion certificate should be provided to the PG doctors so that they can also get their salary including the 6 increments.

Recently the Directorate of Medical Education, Rajasthan issued a notification and informed that as the new batch of PG residents is likely to be delayed in 2021. In the face of the outbreak of COVID, the main examination for the third year residents of PG courses that were previously scheduled to be held in May 2021 will be postponed so that the third year PG medicos can be deployed at COVID services.

Opposing the order, the resident doctors of SN Medical College, Jodhpur submitted a letter to the State Health Minister and clarified that now that NEET PG 2021 got postponed, the three-year PG residency of doctors is most likely to be increased from 4 to 6 months.

In the letter, the association mentioned, " We have been requesting the authorities to consider our grievances for the last 2 months. However, till today government has taken no effort to mitigate our perils. For the last one year, the government has not provided any kind of financial help to us, and now they are cheating us by increasing our tenure. We will face mental, economical, and academic loss. We, the resident doctors are showing our protest for the last 6 days by wearing black badges while serving in our respective departments but the government has not shown any concern."

The in-service residents have already completed three years of their residency. Hence, the doctors demanded that the authorities should grand them one-time relaxation and should consider their further work as a part of senior residency so that these few months of their services can be used to appear in UPSC or RPSC assistant professor exams. Moreover, the resident doctors are getting themselves infected in the process of treatment, the association demanded that they should be given a 7 days quarantine leave.

The other demands of the association included duty allowance for COVID doctors, incentives for the resident doctors, and prompt approval of 2 years study leave for the in-service resident doctors.