Junior doctors of Andhra Medical College, working at King George Hospital and other teaching hospitals in the city, struck work for the third day on Wednesday, as part of the State-wide agitation for higher honorarium.
The junior doctors gathered near the KGH main gate and raised slogans demanding that the Government concede their demand.
The AP junior doctors were being paid less compared to their counterparts in other States and Central government institutions, their representatives said and said that the agitation would be intensified in the next few days if the Government did not hike their honorarium.
A few junior doctors are spared for emergency duty every day and with a stalemate reached between the Government and junior doctors on Wednesday night, the junior doctors were expected to stay away from emergency duties from now.
On Tuesday they burnt an effigy of Arogya Sri Minister Pithani Satyanarayana and on Wednesday, they performed a “homam” beseeching the “gods” to make the Chief Minister concede their demand.
They held placards with their demand and also claimed that the remuneration they get was a pittance compared to the amount of work they put in.
With the junior doctors striking work, medical care in KGH and other Government hospitals continued to suffer. Emergency surgeries were only held. Out-patient wing saw long queues of patients waiting for their turn as senior doctors were only examining the patients. Some in-patients started leaving the hospital as they could not get sufficient attention.
About 1,000 in-patients and not less than 2,000 out-patients are treated every day in KGH.
