HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, on Wednesday, appealed to junior doctors to report to duties immediately keeping public health in mind. "The government is ready to resolve the just demands of junior doctors. We have never neglected them. We have been resolving their problems," the Chief Minister said.
The CM held a meeting with health officials at BRKR Bhavan on Wednesday. Reacting to the doctors' strike, he said if the demands were genuine, then the government would have no objection to addressing them. The junior doctors could bring their issues to the notice of the government and get them resolved, he said.
"But they cannot boycott duties every now and then without considering whether what they are doing is appropriate in a given context. It is not a good practice. People will not be happy with their decision to go on strike during the COVID-19 pandemic," Rao said.
Immediately resolve all problems of junior docs: K Chandrasekhar Rao
Health officials informed the CM that several other States paid less stipend to junior doctors than Telangana did. Rao instructed the officials to resolve the problems of the junior doctors immediately. The CM has already decided to increase the honorarium to senior resident doctors by 15 per cent.
This is being paid to senior residents who have completed the three-year medical course and are providing services to COVID-19 patients. He added that Rao directed the officials to provide better medicare to junior doctors and members of their families at NIMS. The ex-gratia amount too should be paid to them immediately.
Meanwhile, IT Minister KT Rama Rao said that this was not the time for junior doctors to go on strike, when the entire humanity was going through a crisis. “The government will hold discussions with them with an open mind. They are other ways to resolve issues,” Rama Rao said.