Thiruvananthapuram: Doctors in government medical colleges across Kerala will resume their indefinite strike from Monday, boycotting out-patient (OP) services and academic activities, after the state government failed to act on its promise to clear pending salary arrears.

The strike, which was launched earlier this month, had been temporarily called off following assurances from the government that the arrears would be sanctioned at the earliest. However, no final decision has been taken so far.

Officials in the Finance Department said the file related to the payment of arrears, which was forwarded to the Legal Department, is yet to be returned.

With the boycott of OP services, patients, especially from the poorer sections of society, will face hardship. With the medical college faculty on strike, new patients will be forced to consult PG doctors and house surgeons.

The doctors had earlier launched the OP boycott on February 2, following which they were invited for talks the same day by Additional Chief Secretaries for Finance and Health, K R Jyothilal and Rajan N Khobragade respectively.

At the meeting, the Government Secretaries sought a week's time to obtain legal advice before sanctioning the salary arrears, and office-bearers of the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers' Association (KGMCTA), which was engaged in the strike, agreed. KGMCTA leaders also immediately called off the strike.

However, even after a week, there was neither a response nor an announcement regarding the arrears from the government, and the KGMCTA announced the resumption of the agitation. Association leaders said that, along with the boycott of OP services and academic activities, surgeries will be stopped from February 19.

At the same time, emergency services such as Casualty, labour room, ICU, inpatient, other critical treatment procedures, emergency surgeries and autopsies have been exempted from the strike, said KGMCTA President Dr T Roshanara Beegum.