Health and medical care services were crippled across the state as the junior doctors strike entered its fifth day on Tuesday despite a Andhra Pradesh High Courts directive restraining the 1,200 medicos from striking work. As the condition of the six doctors who are on indefinite fast deteriorated and police lathicharged agitating medicos at the Gandhi Hospital here,the junior doctors also kept themselves away from emergency services for a few hours. Though the teaching hospitals made alternative arrangements by cancelling leave of senior doctors,some of whom were also forced to do double shifts,they could not ensure normal services. Health Minister Danam Nagender said the existing staff at the government hospitals were unable to handle the rush of patients,particularly in outdoor patient services. The rush of patients is also high due to seasonal sickness like malaria and viral fever. The governments offer has been rejected by them. We are still negotiating with the doctors and hope to resolve the issue today itself, he said. The Andhra Pradesh Junior Doctors Association rejected the states offer of a consolidated pay hike,saying their demands should be met to implement the pay structure recommended by a committee of experts constituted by the government. The medicos were demanding a hike in stipend for house surgeons from Rs 5,060 to Rs 12,000 per month and for postgraduate medicos from Rs 8,395 to Rs 30,000. Medicos in Andhra are paid the lowest stipend in the country. We are not demanding that we be brought at par with medicos in other parts of the country,we only want a marginal increase now, P Karthik Reddy,one of the student leaders said. On Tuesday,the state agreed to increase the stipend to Rs 7,000 for House Surgeons and Rs 17,000 to PG medicos,but the offer was rejected by the striking doctors. The students union has rejected accusations that their absence had led to the death of six babies at the Vijayawada Hospital on Sunday.
