Four students from the All Rajasthan Medical Doctors Association (ARMDA) are on a hunger strike in Jaipur, Rajasthan, demanding more government medical posts to be made available through the Medical Officer Recruitment Exam. The strike entered its third day, despite one of the protesters being in critical condition. On January 21 evening, members of the public also joined the striking doctors in a show of solidarity.
Laxman Singh Gehlot, the founder of Suryoj NGO, joined the strike and is participating in a hunger fast. The striking MBBS students have gained support from various Resident Doctors' Associations, including RDA Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Haryana. The Federation of All India Medical Doctors' Association (FAIMA) has also written a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot urging for the issue to be resolved.
In a video shared by Dr Vinod Bagra, President of ARMDA, a representative from FAIMA is seen warning that if the matter is not resolved quickly and the health of the striking doctors deteriorates, the doctors' organization will take firm action. Medical groups from other parts of India are also expressing their support on social media.
The students are requesting an increase in the number of posts from 1765 to 4500, as there is a high number of unemployed doctors in Rajasthan and many open positions to be filled. This issue has been ongoing since last year. ARMDA representatives have met with government officials, including CM Gehlot, to present this demand, but no actions have been taken yet.
However, many political personalities have also shown their support and drafted letters to the CM, from December 2022 till date. MLAs Harendra Ninama, Amrit Lal Meena, Rajkumar Roat, Sunil Kumar Bhajat, Dr Dayaram Parmar, Indraj Gurjar, Manisha Pawar and Manish Kumar Yadav are among them, in addition to MP Tarachand Bhagora, Dr Shankar Yadav, Chairman of Scheduled Castes Development and Finance Corporation, Rajsthan and Dr Mahesh Joshi, State Minister of Health.
