PATNA: Junior doctors called off their indefinite strike on Thursday evening and resumed work at government medical college and hospitals across the state.
The junior doctors withdrew the strike after their representatives met health minister Mangal Pandey and health department principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit in the evening.
NMCH Junior Doctors’ Association president Dr Ramchandra Kumar said the meetings with the minister and the principal secretary were fruitful. “The principal secretary has assured us of all support. He explained to us that the process to hike stipend will take some time. The minister too assured us of all help,” he added.
Junior doctors and college administration earlier have had several rounds of talks, however, those meetings could not break the strike, which had made life difficult for common people, especially those from poor backgrounds. Not only had the planned operations postponed in medical colleges and hospitals, including PMCH, even emergency and indoor services were badly impacted.
The junior doctors at government medical college and hospitals in the state had gone on strike on December 23 demanding hike in stipend. The strike had crippled health services in the state and affected patients.
In 2014, the state government had decided to revise the stipend of junior doctors every three year. It was last updated in 2017 and supposed to be revised again in 2020.