The junior doctors would hold a demonstration at the Majura Gate crossroads where they will beg, polish shoes and dust cars as a mark of protest to convey the inadequacy of their stipends, which according to them is grossly insufficient. There are 270 junior doctors, 100 interns and 700 undergraduate students in the campus.

President of Junior Doctors Association, Dr Pritu Dhalaria, said the strike was is response to a call for statewide agitation by associations of junior doctors from Vadodara, Ahmedabad and Jamnagar. He claimed, while Vadodara and Jamnagar associations have already decided to join the agitation, their counterparts in Ahmedabad would soon take a decision in this regard.

Junior doctors had gone on a day's token strike in August to express their displeasure over their stipend of Rs 3700 and were assured that the amount would be raised to Rs 5700 and necessary orders issued within three to four days.

However, despite passage of 15 days there was no government resolution to that effect.

When students called on authorities at Gandhinagar on Saturday they were asked to shuttle between the Health Ministry and the office of the chief minister, Dhalaria alleged. He said the decision to take to the strike was jointly taken by all associations to pressurise the government to implement its assurance at the earliest.

Though the Junior Doctors Association held a meeting of its general body on Saturday evening, a formal call for the strike was given on Sunday. Dr Biren Soni was named the convenor of the strike from Surat and a notice has been served on the superintendent of the hospital.