KGMCTA Strike Update: Kerala High Court Demands Quick Resolution

The situation in Kerala’s government medical colleges has officially hit a breaking point. After a month-long relay hunger strike, the Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) has pulled the plug on routine healthcare services.

The core issue? The state government has been sitting on salary revision arrears for nearly a decade. For many senior doctors, that means up to ₹20 lakh owed per person. Add to that a history of stalled, non-NMC compliant promotions and a brutal 18% staff vacancy rate across the state’s medical colleges. Over 370 sanctioned posts are currently sitting empty.

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With senior faculty stepping back from routine duties, hospital footfall in major centers like Trivandrum and Kozhikode has dropped by more than half. The immediate consequence is that postgraduate (PG) students and resident doctors are left holding the bag, single-handedly running the ICUs, labor rooms, and emergency departments that are exempted from the strike.

The Kerala High Court stepped in this week, demanding the state file a concrete resolution plan to ensure patient care doesn’t completely collapse. While a planned mass resignation from administrative posts was deferred today for government talks, the necessary files are reportedly still stuck in bureaucratic red tape on the Finance Minister’s desk.

Update: Kerala Doctors Call Off Strike: Medical Services Resume Following Written Assurance

“This isn’t just a fight over delayed paychecks; it’s a massive structural failure. You can’t expect a healthcare system to function safely with an 18% staff deficit, it’s a guaranteed recipe for extreme resident burnout. While the High Court’s mandate that patient care shouldn’t suffer is necessary, forcing a broken, understaffed system to keep running without addressing the core financial deficits isn’t a long-term cure. If you are a PG in Kerala right now, the pressure on your shoulders is unimaginable.”