Junior doctors began their strike with token protests at government hospitals across the State on Saturday as the government remained non-committal on scrapping the one-year compulsory rural service condition sought to be imposed on them through G.O No. 107.
They staged demonstrations under the aegis of Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors’ Association (APJUDA) which took strong objection to the diversionary tactics of the government.
Non-emergency services at the government hospitals were affected by the strike and APJUDA warned of intensifying its stir from Sunday. While there was a token protest by junior doctors in Guntur, their counterparts in Visakhapatnam served a 72-hour notice to King George Hospital Superintendent. Junior doctors at Kakinada, Kurnool and Tirupati plan to make it a full-fledged agitation from November 23 for which due intimation was given.
In the protest held at GGH in Vijayawada, junior doctors raised slogans against the government for its alleged negligence in addressing their concerns and expressed intent to work in the rural areas permanently rather than be posted there on an ad-hoc basis.
Minister’s takeMeanwhile, Minister for Health Kamineni Srinivas told media persons that the government promised to look into some of the demands but it could not act in haste on the rural service norm.
The junior doctors were trying to corner the government without understanding its limitations he said while insisting that efforts were underway to put an end to the impasse.