Thiruvananthapuram | The Kerala Government Medical College Teachers’ Association (KGMCTA) began a strike on Thursday, raising various demands, affecting the functioning of medical colleges across the state.

Other than emergency, casualty and labour room services, other departments and classes for medical students were disrupted as part of the protest.

KGMCTA said that except for critical surgeries, all other scheduled surgeries have been postponed.

The association members said the strike had been announced a week earlier, and a discussion held with Health Minister Veena George failed to produce any outcome, prompting them to go ahead with the agitation.

The key demands of KGMCTA include the creation of additional posts and filling the vacancies of assistant professors in various government medical colleges.

The association members said that they also demanded that teachers not be transferred on a work arrangement basis due to staff shortages.

Other demands include payment of pending arrears following the 2020 pay revision and rectification of anomalies in salaries, the members said.

KGMCTA warned that the protest would be intensified if the government failed to meet their demands.