Junior resident doctors and interns across Karnataka will boycott elective services from 9 am to 4 pm on Thursday, by assembling in their colleges in solidarity with the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD). However, emergency, ICU, and COVID-19 services will not be affected by the strike.
Why? Their main demands are to restructure the fees according to the 2018-2019 academic year, immediately sanction funds for the promised COVID-19 risk allowance, and ensure timely payments of stipends to post MBBS juniors and interns.
In a statement on Tuesday, KARD said that although the government and public have glorified them as COVID warriors, they have, in reality, paid the government a hefty sum of money to do this thankless job.
A statement on Tuesday, signed by Dr Namratha C, President of KARD said, "It's been months since the COVID-19 allowance was announced and it still hasn't reached our pockets. Umpteen representations were made to the government and administration in the past year to waive fees for the year 2021-22 since the past academic year was solely spent on COVID care, with near to nil academics and clinical exposure in our chosen specialties."
The statement added that their requests for clarity and discussions were ignored by various government officials, including Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar, forcing them to protest. They warned that young doctors will continue their protest until their demands are heard.
