Jamshedpur MGM Hospital: Junior doctors remain on strike, patients suffer

Jamshedpur, July 12: Several patients were forced to return from the MGM Medical College Hospital as the junior doctors continued their strike on the second day today against the non-payment of stipend.

On the second day of the strike, the doctors completely shut down OPD in the second half of the day further intensifying the agitation.

Though Jamshedpur East MLA Saryu Roy intervened but the strikers refused to budge from their stand.

About 250 junior doctors of the medical college hospital are on strike from Monday, in protest against the non-payment of their stipend for the past five months.

The agitated doctors have announced to observe a two-day strike in support of their demand and threatened for an indefinite period from Wednesday if their demand for stipend payment is not fulfilled in these two days.

The MGM medical college hospital superintendent Arun Kumar said that the hospital emergency is functioning due to the presence of senior doctors, but the OPD remained completely closed.

“We have tried to convince the doctors but the striking junior doctors entered into the OPD block and locked up its gate from inside. As a result, neither any patient nor any senior doctor can enter into it. We had called in the police but the situation remained the same” said Kumar.

Concerned over the situation, the veteran politician Saryu Roy turned up at the OPD block and tried to convince the strikers. Having heard the junior doctors, Roy talked to Chief Minister Hemant Soren regarding the issue of non-payment of stipend.

After the talk with Soren, Roy informed that the stipend will be paid within the next two days, requesting the junior doctor to call off the strike. But the strikers remained adamant in their stand and reiterated that they would not allow the OPD unless the stipend is not paid.

MGM medical college hospital is the only viable government-run health hub across Kolhan from where hundreds of people turn up for treatment every day.

In absence of their duty, the senior doctors had to work in the emergency.  At the emergency, the senior doctors generally tend to avoid sitting in the emergency which is handled mainly by the junior doctors and the interns.

“ Certainly, if the government fails to concede to our pleas in the next one week than we are afraid the health services in the state will go paralyze,” said a doctor.