By IANS,
Ahmedabad : As many as 1,500 resident junior doctors in government and municipal hospitals in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar went on an indefinite strike from Monday, demanding a higher monthly stipend.
The emergency services, particularly in the government-run hospitals, were affected since Sunday afternoon as many junior doctors did not report for work, a health department official said.
He said that since Monday morning, all the senior resident doctors have been put on duty in the emergency and OPD sections of all the government and municipal hospitals.
A statement from the Junior Doctors Association in Ahmedabad said the Gujarat government had been paying Rs.10,000 per month as stipend to the junior doctors, which in fact is prescribed in the Sixth Pay Commission for class IV employees.
They demanded it be raised to Rs.9,000 to 18,000 per month for the first year, Rs. 10,000 to 20,000 in the second year and Rs. 11,000 to 22,000 for the third year.
The Gujarat government is currently talking about offering a mere 15 per cent rise in the stipend, which is unacceptable, the statement said.
According to reports from government and municipal hospitals in Rajkot, Jamnagar, and Bhavnagar, the patients in the emergency units remained the worst affected as only a few senior doctors were there to manage the inflow of patients.
Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas was not immediately available for comment.