Thiruvananthapuram: The strike by a section of government doctors in Kerala continued to disrupt services in state-run medical colleges on Friday, with out-patient (OP) departments remaining affected for yet another day.

Many patients and their families, who had travelled long distances for consultations, were caught unaware of the ongoing protest and voiced frustration over the disruption. They urged the state Health Department to step in immediately and find a solution.

One patient’s relative waiting outside Kozhikode Medical College said, "My family and I came from a far-off place. We stayed in a rented room here to meet the doctor and decide on further treatment for my wife, who has some serious health issues." He added that he had no prior knowledge of the strike.

Echoing similar distress, a woman patient pointed out the impact on economically vulnerable groups. "The Health Department should immediately intervene and resolve it. Otherwise, where do people like us go?" she asked.

The protest, led by the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA), has been ongoing for several weeks. While OP services and theory classes have been affected, emergency departments and casualty units remain fully operational, according to Health Department sources.

KGMCTA members said the agitation continues because repeated discussions with the government have failed to make progress on long-standing issues, including salary revision and filling vacant posts. Their demands include a revision of pay, disbursal of pending salary arrears from 2016 to 2020, correction of anomalies in entry-level pay scales, and creation of additional posts across medical colleges.

PTI