Junior docs to go on strike from June 24 over a slew of demands

Hyderabad: The Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (TJUDA) served notice to the Director of Medical Education (DME) on Tuesday, announcing their decision to go on strike on June 24.

The TJUDA members met with DME Dr Vani and submitted the strike notice. They said, “Despite some proposals being raised in response to our previous strike notice, we regret to inform you that none of our demands have been fully met.”

The junior doctors have been demanding Green Channel for timely release of stipends. The TJUDA president, Dr Ch G Sai Sriharsha, said they had demanded GO be issued to avoid financial strain on JDs and also a Finance Department circular that stipends should be credited by the 10th of every month for all junior doctors.

The TJUDA members said those medicos who have completed super-specialty should be appointed as contract assistants with a salary of Rs 1.25 lakh from their date of appointment for compulsory government service on January 18, 2024. ‘Failing to implement this would not only compromise their one-year service but also deprive them of the monetary benefits they are entitled to. A 15 per cent reservation in NEET UG should be provided for both Telangana and AP students; AP students should not be allowed to join the 15 per cent seats increased in medical colleges in Telangana after June 2, 2014.

They raised security issues at various government hospitals, with several incidents of violence against doctors persisting across hospitals, requiring immediate reinforcement of security outposts and strict law enforcement against assailants. They demanded a new building for Osmania Hospital, providing adequate infrastructure for government medical colleges.

The doctors said during their previous strike they were informed that no GO could be issued due to the election code in force; they were asked to withhold the strike until the code period concluded.

“It has now been almost a month since we issued our previous notice; despite the passage of time, no significant progress has been made towards meeting our demands,” the TJUDA president said.