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Chandigarh: PGI resident doctors call off strike after 11 days, OPDs to resume
The strike, which had brought outpatient services at Chandigarh’s PGI to a near standstill, was called off by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) with immediate effect
After remaining on strike for 11 days, demanding justice for the Kolkata rape-murder victim and implementation of the Central Protection Act, resident doctors at PGIMER decided to end their protest following a crucial hearing in the Supreme Court on Thursday.
The strike, which had brought outpatient services at the premier medical institute to a near standstill, was called off by the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) with immediate effect.
Following the decision, PGIMER will resume all elective services, including OPD consultations and surgeries, from Friday. Registration for both new and revisiting patients in all outpatient departments (OPDs) will be conducted from 8 am to 11 am.
The decision to end the strike was made during a general body meeting (GBM) held at the protest camp on the PGIMER premises at 3 pm on Thursday. Following an appeal from the Chief Justice of India during the Supreme Court hearing, the doctors, who had been demanding a comprehensive investigation by CBI and central government’s attention to their concerns, decided to give authorities a three-week window to address their demands.
Candlelight marches to continue
In a statement, ARD emphasised that while they were resuming normal operations, their protest was not over. Starting Friday, the resident doctors will hold a candlelight march at 9.30 pm each night. The march will be a gesture of solidarity towards the victim of the brutal rape and murder in Kolkata and their fellow doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, the association said.
Despite the resumption of services, the doctors remain firm in their resolve. They have warned that if their demands are not met within the stipulated time, they will consider resuming the strike in even larger numbers after two weeks.
“The strike is off and we will be back to work. But the symbolic protests will continue after our hours of duty. We will hold marches, meetings and candlelight walks to show that we are with the victim and our demand for CPA continues,” said Smriti Thakur, vice-president, ARD.
Before the resident doctors called off their strike, hospital services continued to remain significantly impacted.
On Thursday, PGIMER managed to attend to 5,829 patients in its OPDs, 235 in the emergency and trauma OPD, and conducted 41,948 laboratory investigations. Additionally, 220 emergency patients received care. However, the disruption caused by the strike left many patients distressed.
Satish Kumar, a resident of Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, recounted the challenges his family faced: “My daughter is five months pregnant and the gynaecology department has recommended a visit to the cardiology department due to some concerns about the foetus’ heart. However, we’re struggling to get a registration card because of the strike.”
Rajinder Kumar, a patient from Banur, is awaiting brain tumour surgery. “I’ve been given a date for the procedure twice, but when I arrived on August 13, the doctors were on strike, and elective surgeries were not being conducted,” he said.
No leaves to be deducted: SC
During court proceedings, it was pointed out that the PGIMER director had issued a circular deducting nine days of casual leave (CL) for doctors who were not at work during the strike. However, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) assured that Dr Vivek Lal, the director of PGIMER, was a very mature and senior doctor who would not take any adverse actions against the residents. The CJI further stated that once the residents returned to work, a general order will be issued to seek a resolution of such issues.
Later Dr Lal said, “The residents have been assured of no victimisation of any kind by Supreme Court for leaves during strike period.”
