Ahmedabad: 4,000 bonded PG medical students go on strike

Around 4,000 bonded postgraduate medical students across the state including those from BJ Medical College and Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, who have completed their MD and MS courses, went on strike on Wednesday demanding waiver of their one-year bond service period.

On Tuesday, the students had given a 24-hour ultimatum to the government.

The health department makes PG students from government-run medical colleges sign bonds amounting to Rs 40 lakh each.

The students are supposed to work at government-run health centres in rural areas for one year or forfeit Rs 40 lakh to relieve themselves of the bond condition.

Similarly, the undergraduate students are required to sign Rs 20 lakh bonds.

Around 1,000 PG medical students from Ahmedabad are part of the strike that involves students from government medical colleges in Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamnagar and Bhavnagar.

Students from Surat did not join the strike on Wednesday and gave one more day to the government to accept their demand.

The students have demanded the waiver of their bond period saying they have already served in government medical facilities for over a year during the pandemic.

They want their senior residency term to be considered as their bond period.