95 striking junior doctors terminated in Gujarat

In a press conference held on Monday evening at Ahmedabad’s Circuit House, Gujarat Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas said total 95 post graduate resident doctors have been suspended in the state in connection with ongoing strike of resident doctors in the government and civic hospitals of the state.

Of 95 suspended doctors, 28 are from Ahmedabad’s N.H.L medical college who were earlier suspended for misbehave with nurses on Holi.

Vyas said, Ahmedabad and Vadodara based government hospitals are witnessing 80% traffic of patients during the strike. Though the government has invoked ESMA, it is in no hurry to implement it on the agitating students.

“As interns are back in the college, the situation is becoming normal,” Vyas said.

In another development, 69 interns and 17 resident doctors stepped out of the strike and resume their service at Ahmedabad’s Civil hospital. Interns fearing re-term could not support the strike.

Meanwhile striking doctors who are now victim of hattitude of the society, tried to gain some sympathy by opening a parallel OPD in Ahmedabad’s Civil hospital campus. Agitating doctors operated an OPD from 9 to 12 in the morning.

Striking medical students from Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar etc. places traveled to Ahmedabad and gathered at B.J.Medical college. They are going to organize a protest rally at Gandhinagar on Tuesday.

It should be noted that the government of Gujarat had formed a committee to look into the resident doctors’ demands including hike in stipend on June 30. The committee is scheduled to submit its report on August 30, but before the report is out, the resident doctors have started a strike and agitation.

A third year PG medical student gets Rs 12,900 stipend a month in Gujarat along with benefit of negligible subsidized fees, thanks to Gujarat’s tax payer citizens. It should be noted that in one self-finance college of the state, PG admission in Orthopedic branch was given in exchange of fees as high as Rs 90 lakh recently and that too without stipend.