Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Talks fail; doctors’ stir on

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The talks between the government and the striking teachers of government medical colleges over pay revision issues remained inconclusive on Thursday.

The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA), which launched an indefinite agitation on Thursday demanding immediate implementation of the pay revision, said the doctors would continue their agitation as the government was yet to put forth any concrete proposal.

Though the government sought two weeks’ time to study the issue, the doctors were in no mood to accept this. “Our proposal for pay revision has been with the government since February and we had announced that we will be forced to go on an agitation if the government did not come up with any concrete suggestion before June 30. On Thursday, it was very clear that the government had not even studied our proposal,” association president A. Sarathkumar said.

“The government has asked us to wait till the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) pay scales are announced. But we are not demanding AICTE pay scales. Our demand is that the doctors in medical colleges should be given the pay scale and allowances that are being given to their counterparts in Central government institutes like Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology,” Dr. Sarathkumar said.

The government, during Thursday’s talks, suggested that the issue of allowances might be considered if the doctors accepted the AICTE pay scale, but this was not acceptable to KGMCTA.

“We told the government that KGMCTA is willing to stop all private practice if the doctors are given Central government institution’s pay scale and other allowances,” Dr. Sarathkumar said.

The teachers organised protest marches on all medical college campuses on Thursday.

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