Bihar: Junior Doctors to Continue Stir till Demands Met, Reject Govt Appeal

Patna: The strike by more than a thousand junior doctors of government-run medical colleges and hospitals in Bihar entered its ninth day on Thursday. The junior doctors are demanding an increase in their monthly stipend and have rejected state health minister Mangal Pandey’s appeal to end their strike.

The doctors are determined to continue the strike until their demands are fulfilled. “There is no question of ending the strike as the government has not shown the interest to resolve the issue,” said Dr. Ritesh Kumar, one of the striking doctors associated with the Junior Doctors’ Association.

The Junior Doctors’ Association has said that they would end the strike only after a written announcement by the government to fulfil their demand. “We will not withdraw the strike on mere verbal assurance from the government,” Kumar told NewsClick.

Meanwhile, Pandey accused the doctors of betraying their promise to end the strike. “A delegation of striking junior doctors met me and promised to end the strike yesterday. But now they have taken a U-Turn on their own promise,” the health minister said.

A senior official of the state health department said the government has directed the superintendents and principals of medical colleges and hospitals to identify striking junior doctors and issue notice to them.

According to the Association, junior doctors from Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) along with eight other medical colleges and hospitals are currently on strike. The Resident Doctors’ Association has extended its support to the strike as well.

Junior doctors at the PMCH and NMCH in Patna have been on strike since last week. Health services, including OPD and emergency services, were affected. A similar situation was reported from other medical colleges and hospitals.

In view of the pandemic, some senior doctors were available for COVID-19 patients in hospitals.

Dr Hatendar Kumar, president of PMCH Junior Doctors’ Association, said that their stipend has not increased since 2017. The state government has assured the junior doctors three years ago that it would increase their stipend once every three years. “The year is almost over but our stipend has not been increased so far,” he said.

Due to a shortage of senior doctors, junior doctors have played their part in managing the situation at government-run hospitals since the COVID-19 outbreak. However, the government has ignored their demands forcing them to go on strike, said Mritunjay, a doctor from Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital.