Talks between junior doctors who have been agitating for various demands, including a hike in stipend, and Andhra Pradesh government failed here tonight.
“Except agreeing for regular payment of stipend, none of our demands has been accepted. The government is forcing us to continue the strike. It shows their lack of concern for public health. But we will still attend to emergency duties“, a representative of the junior doctors said to media.
The medicos have been on the warpath for about 10 days with some of them going on indefinite fast.
State Health Minister D L Ravindra Reddy said the medicos insisted on reduction in the compulsory service period in rural areas, which was not acceptable. The government spends Rs.25 to 40 lakhs to prepare a doctor in this state, he pointed out. Asserting that the medicos should behave like students, he warned that otherwise authorities would take stern action against them.
Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy has warned to employ the ESMA act on junior doctors who are not attending to their duties.
Telugu Desam Party and all other opposition parties have naturally extended their support to the agitation of the junior doctors. The state government currently pays a monthly stipend of 18,000 rupees to each junior doctor attending duties in urban areas like Hyderabad and lesser if they are working in rural areas.
Members of the APJUDA Committee and some parents tried to meet the Health Minister D.L. Ravindra Reddy but were turned down. All the agitating doctors in the 10 Government General Hospitals were waiting for the next move by their leaders on whether to block the emergency services or to continue with the hunger strike. The APJUDA warned that they would completely boycott emergency services also if the Government remained non-committal.
The junior doctors have been agitating for almost a month now demanding regular payment of stipend and for an increase in it as per an existing agreement. They also wanted the proposal which makes a year’s service in rural areas mandatory, to be scrapped.
This strike for the past four weeks has put additional pressure on teaching staff at various medical colleges to attend outpatients and more than 1000 such outpatients are left unattended everyday as there are not enough junior doctors to handle the responsibilities.
It may be recollected that this issue has been burning forever, with APJUDA going on strikes frequently and the government not heeding to their strikes. The demands are also nearly always the same, but a compromise seems to come up every time. It’s a pity that doctors do not want to serve in rural areas, but the government may possibly think of alternate approaches to this situation. Would the government consider letting the doctors go free if they pay back the subsidies provided on the tuition and fees? Or, would the government consider increasing the stipend and/or providing more incentives to work in rural/urban areas? Would the junior doctors be willing to pay that back if they do not want to serve the needy patients in rural areas who generally have much fewer options for healthcare?
