Gandhinagar, July 29 - The Gujarat government Wednesday warned 600 resident doctors in government hospitals that their services would be terminated if they continued their strike to demand higher stipend.

The 600 doctors in state-run hospitals across the state are yet to resume their duties despite several warnings since July 23 while an equal number of doctors have decided to return to work, a senior health department official said here.

The state government has now invoked the provisions of the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to meet the situation but the striking doctors continue to defy these provisions, causing hardships to patients, the official said.

The state government would terminate their services if they do not heed to the repeated warnings in 24 hours, the official said.

The Gujarat Association of Resident Doctors (GARD) said in a statement that the resident doctors have resolved to continue the strike.