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Kerala patients in a quandary as doctors take mass leave

Medical services in government hospitals across Kerala were hit on Friday as doctors in the state health service went on mass leave to press their various demands.
Reports from districts said that services in all wings except casualty were affected by the protest called by the Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association as part of intensifying their ongoing agitation demanding better working conditions and facilities in the hospitals.
The doctors also staged sit-in at district headquarters and in front of the state secretariat, where they are already holding an indefinite hunger strike. Large number patients who came to hospitals without knowing about the agitation had to return disappointed.
Hundreds of patients, who stood in queue before the OP counter at Ernakulam General Hospital since early morning, staged a protest shouting slogans against the doctors after the hospital authorities put up a board at 8am saying doctors were on mass leave.
KGMOA leaders said they were forced to intensify their agitation after Health Minister V S Sivakumar went back on the assurances he gave to them on promotions to doctors and indiscriminate creation of new medical colleges in districts.
They have expressed the fear that the government policy of establishing new medical colleges, many of them by converting well-functioning district and general hospitals into medical colleges, will destroy famed Kerala model of public health.
The other demands of the doctors include withdrawal of the order pertaining to their night duty, reinstatement of PG deputation, defining duties and responsibilities of doctors and redrafting of the private practice norms for government doctors. The health minister said that the government had already conceded most of the demands raised by the doctors and the others were unreasonable.
He said that the government was ready to discuss all genuine issues raised by the doctors.

• India