Resident doctors in Gujarat have intensified their protest by staging another strike today, just days after the state government announced a 20 percent stipend increase for intern and resident doctors, retroactive from April 1, 2024. Despite the hike, the strike has escalated following outrage over the recent rape-murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata, leading resident doctors to withdraw from all services, including emergency care.
The Junior Doctors Association (JDA) at BJ Medical College in Ahmedabad is pushing for a 40 percent stipend increase, citing higher stipends in other states like Delhi, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. However, no other junior doctors’ associations from the 18 medical colleges in the state have joined the strike. The state government has dismissed these demands as unjustified, claiming that Gujarat leads in stipend payments to doctors and highlighting that the state requires only a one-year bond for resident doctors, unlike the three-year bonds required in other states. The government also pointed out that resident doctors in Gujarat receive higher stipends than the contract professors who teach them.
Dhawal Gameti, President of the BJ Medical College Junior Doctor Association, stated that they have repeatedly approached the Health Minister and Health Department officials over the past six months, demanding a 40 percent stipend increase every three years as per a government circular. He emphasized that the last hike was on April 1, 2021, and the three-year period ended on March 31, 2024. Gameti argued that their demand for a 40 percent increase effective from April 1, 2024, was halved, prompting the strike. He also compared Gujarat unfavorably with states like Delhi, UP, and Bihar, which offer higher stipends, and criticized the state’s failure to open new government medical colleges since 1995.
Meanwhile, services at Surat’s Civil and SMIMER hospitals continue as usual, with resident doctors there not joining the strike. In Vadodara, resident doctors are yet to decide whether to participate in the strike. In response, the state government issued a statement condemning the strike as unjustified and inhumane, arguing that it compromises patient care and that Gujarat remains a leader in offering the highest stipends to resident doctors compared to other states.
A list provided by the government outlines the number of government medical colleges and the corresponding stipends offered to resident doctors in various states. For example, Delhi, with 8 medical colleges, offers a stipend of ?1,20,000, while Rajasthan, with 25 medical colleges, offers ?70,350. The list includes details from other states, further emphasizing Gujarat’s position as a leader in stipend payments.
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