New Delhi, 8 December 2021 – Nearly 1000 resident doctors in Gujarat went on a day-long strike on Tuesday (7 December) due to the delay in NEET PG counselling 2021. The strike was observed to protest against the lack of manpower in public hospitals and medical institutions around the state. Doctors claimed that they were handling nealy thrice the normal workload because of the delay in counselling.
This manpower shortage is happening across the state as the new batch of PG students have not been able to join due to the counselling delay. The NEET PG batch was ideally supposed to join in May 2021, which was put on hold due to some examination issues. Now, the government has postponed the counselling to January 2022, due to which the next batch will be joining around March 2022.
NEET PG Counselling 2021 – Reason for the Strike
The reason for the strike is the apparent delay in the joining for new PG students. This issue is already causing uproar around the country. After Karnataka resident doctors’ strike, doctors from Gujarat have also shown displeasure with the delay.
As the existing batches are handling nearly three times the workload, resident doctors are overburdened and overstressed. Plus, several PG doctors are not able to focus on their coursework because of the added work requirement.
Due to this, resident doctors observed a similar strike on 29 November. During that strike, the doctors stayed away from all OPD (out-patient department) work from 9 AM to 5 PM. However, all their demands went unheard and they were left with no choice but to observe another strike on 7 December. Emergency work did not stop during the Tuesday strike; however, doctors warned that if their demands are not met, they will have to withdraw from all services in the near future.
Dr Oman Prajapati, VP of the Junior Doctors’ Association of Ahmedabad’s BJ Medical College, noted during the Tuesday strike, “Patients will not suffer due to the strike as resident doctors will remain available for emergency duties. But, we may withdraw ourselves from other services if a lasting solution does not come soon.”
NEET PG Counselling 2021 Delay – Doctors’ Demands
Resident doctors in Gujarat demanded that the NEET counselling process 2021 for PG students be hastened and that the new batch join the workforce as soon as possible.
Also, patients are suffering because hospitals are running with 35% doctor capacity. To reduce this workload and increase the number of healthcare professionals, resident doctors demanded that the government employ medical officers on a temporary basis – until the new PG batch arrives.
