Patna: The junior doctors of nine government-run medical colleges and hospitals in Bihar boycotted work from Monday demanding a raise in stipend. Hundreds of junior doctors in the state went on strike to highlight their five-point demands.
Due to the agitation, patients are at the receiving end as they await their turn in long queues at the medical colleges of the state, reports IANS.
The president Dr. Kundan Suman of the junior doctors association pointed out that their other demands included recruitment of additional doctors in medical colleges and hospitals, and and appointment of non- academic junior resident doctors by the state government. The protesting doctors also demanded a withdrawal of the provision to work for a year in medical colleges for post-graduate doctors.
The junior doctors at PMCH and Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), Patna, Darbhanga Medical College Hospital, Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital in Muzaffarpur, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital in Bhagalpur, the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College in Gaya all joined hands and staged protests in their respective institutions and hospitals.
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The junior doctors and MBBS interns from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and eight other medical colleges who participated in the strike told News Click, "We have decided to boycott work in the outdoor patient department (OPD), emergency and surgery to put pressure on the government to fulfill our demands".
team had earlier reported that the interns were demanding a raise in their monthly stipend from Rs 15,000 to Rs 35,000, claiming that their stipend is the lowest in India.
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Over 900 MBBS students had protested, which had seriously affected the hospital services, including outdoor patient department (OPD) and laboratory investigations in the colleges. However, the medicos had decided to call off their strike after receiving verbal assurance from the officials in the state health department.
Dr Suman said "We had gone on strike last year, as well as in October this year, but ended the strike following assurances from the government. Our demands were never fulfilled and forced us to strike again."
He also added that in the face of a probable third wave of COVID, it is necessary to increase the workforce so that more patients can be treated with care.
The officials of medical colleges and hospitals and district officials concerned were directed by the State Health Department to intervene and handle the situation because healthcare services all over the state including OPD and emergency services were affected by it. However, the striking doctors confirmed that they would not consider calling off the strike until their demands are fulfilled, reports the daily.
"There is no question of ending the strike as the government has not shown any interest to resolve the issue, " said Dr. Suman.
The Junior Doctors' Association has said that they would only call off the strike if the authorities provide them with written assurances that their demands would be fulfilled this time.
"We will not withdraw the strike on mere verbal assurance from the government as it was done in October when we resume duty". In view of the rising COVID 19 cases in the state, some senior doctors were available for COVID-19 patients in hospitals, officials said.