HC pressure: Junior doctors suspend strike

Dr Raul Dev, the doctors’ representative, said: “With due respect to the High Court, we have suspended our strike till December 20, when our five-member committee is meeting State Medical Education Minister Lalji Verma.”

He, however, added that

if the meeting failed to produce any “favourable” outcome then they would resume their strike. The doctors are gone on strike from December 15 and are demanding their salaries and other allowances in accordance with the Sixth Pay Commission.

In spite of the suspension of the strike, however, work at the Lala Lajpat Rai hospital remained paralysed and most of the wards wore a deserted look. The number of patients in the hospital have steadily dwindled, as many have moved to private nursing homes.

“Despite the efforta made by senior doctors, the number of patients has gone down considerably in last four days,” said Superintendent-in-Chief Dr Naresh Yadav.

In Allahabad, junior doctors of Moti Lal Nehru Medical college ran a parallel OPD for patients on Friday. By evening, sensing the mood of the government, which had deployed a heavy police force at the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital, they decided to suspend their strike for 24 hours till Saturday.

“After 24 hours, we will again go on strike if the government does not give us proper assurance for the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission,” said Ashsih, a junior doctor.

During a meeting in the evening, they also decided to meet the minister on Saturday. Lalji Verma has, however, said that if the doctors had not heeded to the High Court’s directive, the government was thinking of initiating stringent action against them.

“We have assured the court and the doctors, not once but repeatedly, that they would get all benefits of the Sixth Pay Commission. But the doctors are unnecessarily adamant causing inconvenience to patients,” Verma said.

Meanwhile, owners of private nursing home and doctors took out a massive rally in Allahabad to protest against rising incidents of vandalism in nursing homes and assaults on doctors.

Recently, mob went on rampage in two private hospitals of the city. The doctors demanded security to the nursing homes.