Thiruvananthapuram: With post-graduate (PG) medical students in government medical colleges continuing their strike, Health Minister Veena George on Wednesday held a meeting with representatives and promised to give due consideration to their demands.
The minister said that a committee will be constituted within a month to study the issues on working patterns and duties of PG medical students.
The students' associations have been given a month to list out the various problems faced by them, informed minister George in a Facebook post.
The minister said that the things specified in the manual for Residency Programme will be implemented.
The matter of a four percent increase in stipend has been brought to the attention of the finance department twice. The concern from the students has been raised again with a request for consideration, said the minister, claiming that she will meet the minister concerned.
However, the state government has refused to get involved in the admission process of first-year PG students saying it is sub judice.
The services offered by PG students and house surgeons in the wards and emergency departments are immense.
"The best thing the health department could do was order the placement of 373 Non-Academic Junior Residents (NAJR). A lot of them have already started working," claimed the minister.
"They have asked for more NAJRs to be posted. They said that the service of SR (senior residents) is available only at the faculty level. Hence as per their demand, in place of 249 formerly placed SRs, more NAJRs will be appointed," the minister added.
