3,000 Junior Doctors in Madhya Pradesh Resign after Court Calls their Strike 'Unlawful'

Madhya Pradesh:

According to PTI, almost 3,000 junior doctors in Madhya Pradesh resigned on Thursday and said they will continue their protest even though the state's High Court ordered them to resume their work within 24 hours. 

The physicians went on strike on Monday to pressure the government to boost their stipend and provide free treatment to them and their families if they contracted Covid-19.

The walkout was declared unlawful by the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which ordered physicians to return to work by Friday afternoon. A division bench comprising of Chief Justice Mohammad Rafiq Ahmed and Justice Sujoy Paul reprimanded the physicians for going on strike in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak.

The judges also stated that the government should take action against the doctors if they do not return to work within the specified time frame. 

The head of the Madhya Pradesh Junior Doctors Organisation, Dr Arvind Meena, told PTI that the association will appeal the High Court decision to the Supreme Court. 

Meena said that the government agreed to meet the doctors' demands on May 6, but nothing was done after that.

"The government has promised to raise the stipend by 24% and till they raise it to that limit, the strike will continue," he said. 

According to The Times of India, the head of the doctors' association noted that they had been on a four-day peaceful strike but that the administration had not reached out to them.

"Rather, an attempt was made to mislead us by getting a petition filed in the High Court," he continued. "That's why we tell the government that you can stop us from strike, but not from resigning." 

Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishvas Sarang met with doctors' association representatives, according to PTI, quoting the state's medical commissioner Nishant Warwad. 

Warwad went on to say that the government had already approved a 17 percent increase in the doctors' stipend, and that more increases will be made based on the Consumer Price Index. The official went on to say that doctors had a moral obligation to care patients and that they should return to work. 

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