TJUDA begins indefinite strike;  adamant about demands

Members of the Telangana Juniour Doctors Association (TJUDA) commenced an indefinite strike across the State on Monday.
They remained adamant on their demands and resolved to continue the protest until the demands are fulfilled. TJUDA president  Dr G Sai Sri Harsha said, “There has been no action taken on the demand for green channel so far. There was a GO 36 during the Andhra Pradesh government which had provisions regarding the green channel. When we (TJUDA) met the Health Minister in January, he said that the government would implement the green channel. However, there were no answers; instead the authorities said that they would communicate with the finance department after the token numbers are generated. The finance department would then release the stipends. This has been told to us for the last six months, but it has not happened. The authorities have released a budget for one year instead of releasing it for a 3-month period. The doctors are going from pillar to post with the token number for almost two months.
The finance department must specify the dates on which the stipends will be released. The association demands a GO wherein stipends will be released under budget relaxation.”
He further said that a delegation of the TJUDA would meet the Health Minister.  It is to be noted that approximately 6,000 juniour doctors across Telangana are protesting over their unfulfilled demands. Out of them, nearly 1,000 students were present at the Gandhi Hospital.
The junior doctors joined the protest early on Monday near the Superintendent’s office; the striking doctors boycotted their outpatient and post elective surgery duties. In order to overcome the staff shortage, the management asked all senior doctors to cancel their leaves and report to their duties.