📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Rathfelder
Health
Junior Doctors Stage Protest in Chhattisgarh Over Pay and Working Conditions
✍️ NDTV MP Chhattisgarh
🗓 23 Sep 2026, 01:31 PM
👁 19
Around a hundred junior doctors gathered in Raipur on Thursday demanding higher salaries and better working conditions, escalating tensions with the state health department.
On Thursday, a group of roughly one hundred junior doctors assembled outside the Chhattisgarh Health Department building in Raipur, chanting slogans and holding placards that called for a revision of their salary structure and improvements in working conditions. The protest, organized by the state’s junior doctors’ association, marked the latest escalation in a series of grievances that have been building over the past months.
State Health Minister Rajesh Singh responded to the demonstration by acknowledging the doctors' concerns but warned that any disruption to patient care would be taken seriously. He announced that a meeting with representatives of the protesting doctors would be scheduled within the next two days to discuss possible adjustments to the pay scale and staffing norms.
The doctors highlighted that their current remuneration lags behind national benchmarks and that chronic understaffing forces them to work extended hours, affecting both their well‑being and the quality of care provided to patients. Hospital administrators have reported a slowdown in routine services since the protest began, urging a swift resolution.
If the talks do not yield a satisfactory outcome, the doctors have signaled the possibility of a wider strike that could impact outpatient and emergency services across the state. The health department has urged the public to remain calm and assured that essential services will continue uninterrupted.
State Health Minister Rajesh Singh responded to the demonstration by acknowledging the doctors' concerns but warned that any disruption to patient care would be taken seriously. He announced that a meeting with representatives of the protesting doctors would be scheduled within the next two days to discuss possible adjustments to the pay scale and staffing norms.
The doctors highlighted that their current remuneration lags behind national benchmarks and that chronic understaffing forces them to work extended hours, affecting both their well‑being and the quality of care provided to patients. Hospital administrators have reported a slowdown in routine services since the protest began, urging a swift resolution.
If the talks do not yield a satisfactory outcome, the doctors have signaled the possibility of a wider strike that could impact outpatient and emergency services across the state. The health department has urged the public to remain calm and assured that essential services will continue uninterrupted.