Govt. medical college teachers in Kerala to intensify stir

Members of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association on Wednesday held the third round of their agitation boycotting outpatient (OP) services in support of their various demands.

At the Government Medical College Hospital here, the protest was opened by KGMCTA unit acting president T.P. Ashraf. The functionaries said that the government’s financial constraints should not be a reason for denying fair wage benefits to medical college teachers. They also said that though setting up new medical colleges in the government sector was a welcome step, it should be followed by creating required posts of doctors and putting in place proper infrastructure. Medical college teachers were being ignored while clearing salary arrears for various government departments, they added.

The strike affected the functioning of the OP department where thousands of patients seek treatment every day. Many of the patients were unaware of the agitation. According to sources, house surgeons and medical postgraduates were assigned the job of examining the patients. This included even those who were referred from other government hospitals for specialist treatment.

The KGMCTA’s demands included clearing of the salary arrears between 2016 and 2020, sorting out the anomalies in the pay structure for entry-level cadre, and creation of better facilities and new posts in all government medical colleges. The association functionaries said that its members would be forced to go for indefinite boycott of OP services and elective boycott of operation theatre duties if their demands were not met.