By IANS,
Ahmedabad : Junior doctors in government and municipal hospitals in Gujarat called off their indefinite strike Thursday morning following assurances from the government to consider their demand for a hike in monthly stipend after the Lok Sabha poll.
“We have been assured by the state government that it will actively consider the demand of the junior doctors for a hike in monthly stipend as per the stipulated structure recommended in the Sixth Pay Commission after the Lok Sabha poll. The junior doctors have now decided to join their duties back in the various hospitals across the state,” a spokesman of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) told IANS.
As many as 1,500 junior doctors in hospitals in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara and Bhavnagar had gone on strike Monday, demanding monthly stipend between Rs 18,000 to 22,000 per month compared to the current stipend of Rs 9,600 paid to them across the state.
The spokesman said that all junior doctors have already reported on duty in government and municipal hospitals Thursday morning after lengthy discussions were held with the state Health Minister Jaynarayan Vyas Wednesday night to end the deadlock.
The state government also told the junior doctors that they should not have gone on strike at a time when 56 people died in Modasa of Hepatitis-B and there were some more cases of the disease being detected in the entire state. Around 2,000 paramedics were deployed on duty Wednesday morning in the government and municipal hospitals, aided by the faculty from the medical colleges to attend to patients, in view of the junior doctors’ strike.