Medicos on 12-hour strike in Kerala today
The Hindu
They seek solution to acute staff shortage in medical colleges
The Kerala Medical Postgraduates Association (KMPGA) is going ahead with the State-wide token strike they had called in all Government Medical College Hospitals on Monday, to protest against the authorities’ ‘total disregard for the issue of acute human resources shortage in these institutions.’ Postgraduate medicos, who form the backbone of patient care service delivery in all Medical Colleges, will withdraw all non-COVID and non-emergency services for 12 hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday. They said the acute shortage of human resources in wards and ICUs in the State was seriously affecting patient care delivery. All residents were overworked following continuous shifts and the situation cannot be managed like this forever, they said.Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.