BENGALURU, 12 AUG

The non-emergency services at government hospitals in Bengaluru were disrupted as resident doctors began an indefinite strike on Monday demanding reduction in medical college fees and increase in stipend.

The non-striking, visiting doctors at government hospitals such as KC General Hospital, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute, Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Trauma & Orthopaedics Centre and Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health Hospital were under pressure on the day to carry out the tasks.

An ophthalmologist from a government hospital in Jayanagar said, “We have been receiving 600 patients for eye check-up every day. On Monday, only three-four doctors were there to oversee them since around eight resident doctors didn’t turn up.”

When Salar News spoke to a couple of patients affected due to the strike, a few of them said they would support the doctors for their rights and the government should take care of medical professionals also. “We will wait for the main doctors to give us a treatment,” a patient who turned up at a government hospital said. 

In a government hospital, the waiting time for non-emergency services ranges from one hour to three hours depending on the patients count per day. Due to the strike, the wait was extended to additional two to three hours.

A visiting doctor from a government hospital in the City said, “Now I have to be present at the labour rooms to keep an eye on patients and also manage the treatment of the patients as we are working under pressure.”

Speaking to Salar News, Dr Sirish Shivaramaiah, President of Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors, said, “The strike is meant to show the impact of the missing of resident doctors on government hospitals. We are the backbone of medical system and the government should consider paying us more instead of ghosting us saying that the decision is on the way.”

This strike is going to continue until the State government passes an order meeting their demands, the protesters said. However, they will not strike work from Tuesday to Thursday as they are holding eye donation and blood donation campaigns.

An official from the office of Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said, “Today, we held a cabin meeting regarding the resident doctors’ protest. We have set up a committee to analyse the problems and decide accordingly.”

Speaking to Salar News, Dr Maneesha Munipalli, a resident doctor of Victoria hospital, Kalasipalyam, said “The stipends we receive do not align with the cost of living and the fees we had paid for our medical studies. In every other state the stipends come up to Rs 90,000 for a resident doctor.”

Dr Munipalli said the fees for postgraduate courses stand around Rs. 1.13 lakh per year, while super-speciality courses cost Rs 2.27 lakh annually. In contrast, stipends range from Rs 45,000 to Rs 55,000 for PG students and Rs 55,000 to Rs 65,000 for super-specialty residents.

Another resident doctor from Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College and Research Institute said: “The working hours for us residents go up to 36-48 hours and sometimes even more than that. The stipend that we get is not equal to the amount of work hours put up by us.”

The protest had begun at Freedom Park and they wore black ribbons to show solidarity to the doctor who was raped and killed. —Salar News