Junior doctors of all 10 medical colleges of the state, including capital Raipur, are on strike demanding stipend and reducing the bond period. During this, they are treating the patients by setting up OPD outside the hospital but the services inside the hospital have been affected due to the strike. On the fourth day of the strike, junior doctors protested by selling tea.
Like the stipend received on the basis of degree, doctors have also decided the category of tea. The protesting doctors told that the government is giving less stipend than what we are entitled to, similarly the rate of tea has also been kept.
Junior doctors said, the price of MBBS tea is Rs 5. Which they are selling for Rs. The rate of MD/MS tea which should be available for Rs 10 has been kept at Rs 5. In this way, tea made by specialist doctors should be available for Rs 20, but they are also selling it for Rs 5. Doctors of other medical colleges are also on strike.
Apart from Raipur, junior doctors of Sarguja, Kanker, Jagdalpur, Raigarh and Rajnandgaon Government Medical Colleges have also stopped work and gone on strike from July 31. Earlier, for a week, the junior doctors treated the patients wearing black bands in the hospital for their demands. In the government hospitals of medical colleges in the state, the health system is the responsibility of the junior doctors and their going on strike is directly affecting the patients.
Lowest honorarium in Chhattisgarh
According to Manu Pratap Singh, President of Chhattisgarh Junior Doctors Association, the stipend given to junior doctors in the state is very less as compared to other states. He said, the junior doctors of the state get less stipend than the nearby state MP, Jharkhand. In other states where up to Rs 95 thousand is given. On the other hand, 50-55 thousand rupees are available in Chhattisgarh. Bond of 2 years is not filled in any state. This is happening only in Chhattisgarh. The honorarium has not been increased in the last 4 years. Due to this, now we have to take the step of strike. More than 3 thousand doctors are on strike.
The number of junior doctors in the state is more than 3 thousand. All of them study in medical colleges of different districts of the state. Along with this, they also treat people. Manu Pratap said that from today the services in routine OPD are being stopped.
