Madhya Pradesh: JuDA Calls off a Week-Long Strike after Meeting with Medical Education Minister Sarang
BHOPAL / The JuDA(junior doctors’ association) has ended its strike on Monday after the Madhya Pradesh government accepted all the demands including the hike in stipends.
A delegation of the striking doctors met with the state’s Minister for Medical Education, Vishwas Sarang and decided to end their strike after he announced the 17% and 6 per cent hike in their monthly and annual stipends respectively.
“Junior doctors have ended their strike unconditionally and went back to rejoin their duty across the state. The government had already agreed to give a hike of 17 per cent in stipend to them”, Sarang told reporters.
After meeting with Sarang, the state president of JuDA, Arvind Meena announced that they had called off the protest and returned back to the work.
The development came ahead of a hearing in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday over a petition regarding the junior doctors” strike.
The junior doctors from six medical colleges GMC Bhopal, MGM Indore, NSCBMC Jabalpur, BMC Sagar, SSMC Rewa and GRMC Gwalior were on strike for a week over their six-point demands.
The doctors demanded a 17 per cent hike in monthly stipend and a 6 per cent annual increment, reservation of separate beds if they contact the infection during serving to the COVID-19 patients, proper workplace security and free COVID-19 treatment for them and their kin.
The health services were affected in government medical colleges-run hospitals because of the protest by junior doctors.
Last week, defying the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order, 3000 junior doctors resigned from their posts. The JuDA has been told to resume work within 24 hours by the High Court, terming the strike as illegal. JuDA has maintained that till their 6-point demands are not fulfilled by the government they will not return to work and are set to approach the Supreme Court, challenging the HC’s order.
