The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Medicos begin indefinite strike

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Sunday, Jul 10, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Medicos begin indefinite strike

Special Correspondent

State Government addressing all their demands sincerely, says Congress

HYDERABAD: The Joint Action Committee of the Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association (APJUDA) began its indefinite strike in all the Government teaching hospitals on Saturday noon by boycotting medical services, including emergency care.

Carrying out their threat of launching an indefinite strike if the Government failed to concede their major demands by Saturday, the junior doctors trooped out of the hospitals at mid-day even before completing their morning shifts.

In Osmania General Hospital, junior doctors came out of the wards and gathered near the hospital Superintendent's office and raised slogans. They staged a dharna for sometime to mark the beginning of the strike. Services in Gandhi hospital and nine other Government hospitals were affected. The APJUDA president, B. R. Suresh Babu, said junior doctors had no alternative but to intensify the strike as the Government remained adamant and refused to cooperate with the court. He said the students would continue to strike work and at the same time go to the public to present their case.

Stir in districts

A report from Vijayawada said junior doctors struck work and later took out a procession from Siddhartha medical college and staged a dharna in front of the college building. In Tirupati, the students assembled at Alipiri centre and vowed to continue the struggle. The APJUDA leaders claimed that junior doctors participated in the strike in Kurnool, Warangal, Kakinada and Visakhapatnam.

`Unreasonable'

Meanhwile, the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) asked striking junior doctors to have a rethink on their agitation in the larger interest of society and get back to their duties.

In a statement here on Saturday, E. Pratap Reddy, secretary of the CLP, and V. Vasant Kumar, executive member, and N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Government Chief Whip, said the strike was unreasonable as the Government was addressing all their demands sincerely.

It had already cancelled the essentiality certificates issued to seven colleges so far. The issue of sanction of new private medical colleges had been referred to the working group and admission through the management quota on the basis of EAMCET results would be made more transparent.

Likewise, the Government had hosted the names of all the faculty of private colleges on the website of the NTR University of Health Sciences along with their registration numbers. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, had also agreed to constitute a State Health Mission to rectify the flaws in medical education and the health sector. They said the Government had so far succeeded in securing recognition to 121 PG seats derecognised earlier. Moreover, it was a continuous process and would be taken care of, they added. The demand that the residency system be implemented had been accepted in principle and additional resources were being mobilised from various sources.

User charges were being released to hospitals by the Government as promised by the Congress in its election manifesto and an alternative health insurance package was being planned for medical students.

It had concurred with the junior doctors demand on improving medical education by updating teaching aids and framing academic schedules, they said.

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