Resident doctors begin indefinite strike across Telangana

Around 1,000 junior doctors at Gandhi Hospital and around 6,000 junior doctors in Telangana began their strike on Monday, June 24, 2024.

Hospital medical care was not affected, but outpatient facilities were likely to be disrupted, said medical staff who were not affected by the unrest.

While the patients made their way to the outpatient block of Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, a tent was set up in front of the inpatient building.

These were junior doctors who were preparing for an indefinite strike to avoid meeting the government’s demands. Over time, hundreds of junior doctors gathered, holding placards and chanting slogans such as “If there is no delay in treatment, why delay in payment?”

As part of the strike, junior doctors across the state will boycott outpatient services, elective surgeries and ward services from Monday, but emergency services will continue as usual. “We have given the government enough time to respond to our demands. Most of them can be met within a day if the government and administration are committed to it,” said Dr G Sai Sri Harsha, president of Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA).

A doctor stressed, “Even if the government promises to credit our scholarships within the next hour, our strike will continue. We want our scholarships to be credited on time every month and that is why we are demanding the introduction of a green channel.”

On June 18, T-JUDA submitted a strike notice to the Director of Medical Education (DME). Their demands include setting up a green channel for timely disbursement of scholarships, honorariums for highly specialised senior doctors, deployment of police force to prevent violence against doctors in hospitals, construction of new hostels, provision of adequate teaching staff in medical colleges and construction of a new facility for Osmania General Hospital (OGH).