Tamil Nadu doctors call off strike after threatened with axing

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and health minister C Vijayabhaskar had made it clear that the government was ready to replace the agitating doctors if they didn’t relent

Government doctors in Tamil Nadu called off their week-long stir on Friday and returned to work after the government threatened to sack them. The government too signalled reconciliation by dropping punitive measures initiated against the medicos.

Tamil Nadu government doctors said they were ending their strike in the interest of the patients.(HT Photo/File/Representative)

The striking doctors, who were told to face the axe if they didn’t join work on Friday, said they called off the stir in the public interest and hoped the government would consider their demands.

“In response to the Chief Minister’s appeal to end the strike and considering the hardships caused to the general public, the indefinite strike has been called off,” Dr Lakshmi Narasimhan, President of the Federation of Government Doctors Association, told the media in the morning.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and health minister C Vijayabhaskar had made it clear that the government was ready to replace the agitating doctors if they didn’t relent.

After the strike was called off, Vijayabhaskar announced that all punitive measures including transfers and break-in-service orders, were being cancelled.

He said the government “will consider” the demands of the doctors but didn’t say if it will consult the doctors’ associations that spearheaded the stir.

The TN Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) and Federation of Government Doctors Association (FOGDA) had led the agitation for pay hike and time bound promotions among other demands including hiring of additional doctors and reservation in PG medical courses for service doctors.