Kakinada, Nov 11th: Patients at the government general hospital (GGH) here have had a harrowing time for the last three days, as junior doctors and students of the GGH and Rangaraya Medical College (RMC) respectively continuing their protest against the government demanding a hike in their stipend on a par with their counterparts in other states. They ask the hike for a house surgeon to Rs 12,000 from Rs 5, 060 per month, and for post-graduate medicos to Rs 30,000 from Rs 8,395.

Continuing the stir on the GGH premises here on Wednesday, nearly 200 members of the local chapter of AP Junior Doctors Association, led by its president Mr Talla Vinay alleged that the state government was not thinking about their welfare. It was very horrible to adjust with the stipend, as compared to all other states in the country, he said. While PG medicos in neighboring states were getting a stipend from Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 per month, the state’s junior doctor’s stipend was only Rs 8,000, they added.

The association members made it clear that they would wait for a favorable reply from the government till Wednesday evening. It they did not get the same, they would intensify their stir from Thursday morning, they warned. A total of 150 house surgeons of the GGH and 116 post graduates of RMC participated in the stir. Meanwhile, all health services in the GGH attached to the RMC in Kakinada were affected for hours following demonstration by the junior doctors.