Intern doctors go on nationwide indefinite strike

Intern doctors across all public medical college hospitals in the country have launched a concurrent, nationwide indefinite strike to press home their six-point charter of demands.

The protest program commenced at various institutions, including Chattogram, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi Medical College Hospitals on Sunday morning (June 7).

In addition to the work abstention, protesters organized demonstrations, human chains, and rallies in various locations across the country.

The Intern Doctors Association of Chattogram Medical College Hospital began their indefinite strike at 8am on Sunday. Expressing solidarity, students of Chattogram Medical College also boycotted classes after 11am. The dual strike caused significant distress and suffering to patients arriving at the hospital for medical care.

Meanwhile, intern doctors at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital held a protest march before formally submitting their six-point demands to the hospital director. They announced that the strike would continue until their demands are met.

In Rajshahi, intern doctors at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital similarly joined the work abstention on Sunday. Staging a human chain under the banner of the RMC Intern Doctors Council at the hospital's main gate, they urged the authorities to immediately implement their demands, reiterating that the movement will persist if ignored.

The protesting doctors are demanding the immediate withdrawal of a decision regarding FCPS training issued by the Health Education and Family Welfare Division on May 19, alongside the issuance of a fresh directive. They argue that the recent proposal suspends new postings in certain departments of Dhaka Medical College and Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospitals, mandates two years of compulsory service at the sub-district level, and provides only limited allowances—all conditions they want revoked.

Their other core demands include fixing the minimum monthly allowance for intern doctors at tk 30,000 and aligning the salary of trainee doctors, including residential allowance, with the 9th grade of the national pay scale. Furthermore, they are demanding the enactment of the Healthcare Worker Protection Act alongside its implementation through a speedy trial tribunal.

The protesters are also calling for the maximum age limit for entering the BCS Health cadre to be set at 34 years, and they want the BMDC Act-2025 transformed into a full-fledged law instead of an ordinance. To protect their profession, they seek strict legal action against individuals practicing with fake doctor identities and want a transparent, structured salary framework formulated for physicians employed in private medical institutions.

Finally, they have requested that admission test fees under the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council and Bangladesh Medical University be capped at a maximum of tk 1,000.