Ahmedabad: 10,000 doctors go on strike over unheeded demands

AHMEDABAD: About 10,000 medical teachers and doctors associated with five state-wide groups or associations in the state went on strike on Monday, over their demands that have been pending with the state government for a long time now.

The association members said the government has not moved towards rapprochement even as hundreds of patients suffer because of the strike.

The doctors said that their strike will continue on Tuesday. The strike was observed in civil hospitals, hospitals attached to GMERS colleges, and district and taluka-level health centres, the organizers said.

Those who joined the strike included medical teachers, in-service doctors, medical officers, and GMERS-affiliated hospital doctors – all part of Gujarat Medical Forum.At BJ Medical Collegein Ahmedabad, doctors staged a protest outside the college with sloganeering.

At Civil Hospital and other hospitals, the administration claimed to have worked with existing staff even as several hospitals sent patients away due to the lack of specialist doctors. Some surgeries also had to be postponed, sources said.