The Hindu : Front Page : Junior doctors’ strike continues

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Monday, May 04, 2009
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Junior doctors’ strike continues

Staff Reporter

‘Government cannot decide on increase in stipend as poll code is in place’

Medical equipment worth Rs. 50 crore to be made available
Orders placed for medicines worth Rs. 1.36 crore

Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Looking for a solution: Junior doctors on strike at the Victoria Hospital in Bangalore on Sunday. —

Bangalore: Medical services in government hospitals continued to be affected with the junior doctors’ strike entering its third day, even as government officials met the protesters on Sunday asking them to resume work.

While the Government told the doctors that the issue of enhancement in stipend would be looked into after June 4, the latter have said they will continue with their strike till their demands are met. Although government authorities on Sunday claimed that most of the junior doctors’ demands had been met, the doctors refused to agree.

“The Additional Secretary of the Department of Medical Education, Anees Siraj, met the junior doctors on Sunday and told them that the Government is aware of their problems,” G.T. Subash, Dean and Director of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), told The Hindu. Dr. Subash claimed that the demands of the protesting doctors had been met, except for the increase in stipend.

He said: “Steps have been taken to procure emergency drugs to ensure that there is no shortage. We have placed orders for drugs worth Rs. 1.36 crore.” Dr. Subash also said that orders had been placed for medical equipment worth Rs. 50 crore. “Most of the equipment must be imported by the Union Government. They are in the process of being supplied,” he added.

With regard to the increase in stipend, he said the junior doctors were negotiating directly with the Government. “The Additional Secretary told them that since the election code of conduct was in place till June 4, the Government would not be able to take any decision on this issue now,” Dr. Subash said.

Strike to continue

Meanwhile, K. Pushpa Latha, joint secretary of the Bangalore chapter of the Junior Doctors’ Association, said they would continue with their “Save our hospitals movement.” “We will continue with the strike till all our demands are met,” she added.

She, however, said the doctors were cooperating with the authorities in preventing the spread of contagious diseases. Dr. Pushpa Latha said that a team of six doctors was at the Bangalore International Airport screening passengers for swine flu. “We are also working round-the-clock at the Isolation Hospital, screening and treating patients for chikungunya and cholera,” she added.

The impact of the strike was not much on Sunday, as the flow of patients to government hospitals was minimal, barring emergency cases. However, in case of inpatients, the impact was felt as the doctors were attending to priority cases.

O.B. Manjunath from Gubbi claimed that his sister, who was a heart patient in Victoria Hospital for the past five days, had not been attended to properly as the junior doctors were on strike. A senior doctor on duty at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, on condition of anonymity, said several senior doctors were working long hours to ensure that medical services were not affected. “I will be on a 36-hour shift. We are inconvenienced by the junior doctors’ strike. However, we have taken steps to ensure that emergencies and surgeries are not affected.”

Srinivas Radder, president of the Junior Doctors’ Association, said that medical services were not affected as junior doctors were treating patients at the parallel Out-Patient Department (OPD). “What we used to do in the OPD within the hospital, we continue to do at the parallel OPD outside,” he claimed.

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