Medical services get affected as junior doctors strike in MP

Madhya Pradesh : Health services were crippled today in hospitals linked to government medical colleges across Madhya Pradesh as junior doctors went on an indefinite strike to protest MCI's reported move to "de-recognise" postgraduate seats due to inadequate infrastructure and teaching staff.

Members of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) of medical colleges in Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Rewa and Gwalior have been on strike for the last couple of days, while their counterparts in Indore joined the protest to seek the upgrading of facilities to meet the Medical Council of India (MCI)'s norms.

"JDAs across the state have gone on an indefinite strike," state JDA spokesman Anand Rai said.

The MCI's website claims it has "de-recognised" 154 seats in postgraduate courses in the state's five government medical colleges due to lack of infrastructure and adequate faculty, he claimed. The MCI has also recommended to the centre to withhold admissions to these seats as the state government has failed to upgrade facilities despite several reminders and warnings.

The MCI has also cut down the number of seats in several postgraduate diploma courses, thereby compounding the plight of MBBS graduates preparing for entrance examinations, Rai claimed.

Despite several pleas to the state government, effective steps have not been taken to meet MCI's norms in medical colleges, thus compromising the careers of students, he alleged.