Doctors stage demonstrations, boycott OPDs in Jharkhand govt

Doctors at government hospitals in Jharkhand on Monday staged demonstrations, wore black badges and boycotted work at outpatient departments in response to the strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). Doctors at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIIMS), Ranchi, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial (MGM) Medical College Hospital, Jamshedpur, and Pataliputra Medical College (PMC) Hospital, Dhanbad are participating in the strike.

Doctors at the medical college and hospitals are on dharna, wearing black badges and demanding security for themselves. "OPDs are closed but emergency services are being provided," Dr Ajay Kumar, the Convenor of IMA (Jharkhand- Chapter) told PTI.

Dr S K Singh, the Superintendent of PMC Hospital in Dhanbad, said senior doctors had marked attendance but they have not reported for work at the OPDs. Relatives of patients, who were standing in a queue at the Pataliputra Medical College and Hospital in Dhanbad since 8 am, said they were affected by the strike.

Doctors at MGM hospital in Jamshedpur have also joined the strike. A delegation of doctors is scheduled to meet East Singhbhum district Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar later in the day. The IMA has called the nation-wide strike in support of their striking colleagues in West Bengal.

Junior doctors across West Bengal are observing a strike for the seventh day on Monday in protest against the assault on two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital, allegedly by the family members of a patient who died last week.