The ongoing doctors' strike in Rajasthan has paralysed health services in the state, with work in all six government medical colleges and attached hospitals coming to a halt.
Eight more patients' deaths were reported on Monday, taking the toll to 23 since the strike by around 5,000 doctors began on Saturday night to protest a police lathi charge on doctors in Jodhpur.
It was, however, not immediately clear how many patients' deaths could be directly linked to the strike.
Doctors in Jodhpur began a hunger strike on Monday, demanding dismissal of the guilty policemen. They also burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
The strike comes at a time when the state government has enforced the Epidemic Act to tackle the rising cases of H1N1 flu, which has claimed at least 28 lives in Rajasthan in the past month.
Gehlot and state Health Minister Aimaduddin Ahmed Khan appealed to doctors to call off the strike. A delegation of resident doctors met Khan on Monday morning.
A contingency plan has been put in place under which the health department is deputing additional doctors from hospitals in nearby districts. Khan said 59 doctors have been asked to join at Jaipur, 62 at Jodhpur, 15 at Kota, 30 at Bikaner and 24 at Ajmer .
"If required, services from ESI (Employees' State Insurance), railway and military hospitals would be taken," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"If required, services from ESI (Employees' State Insurance), railway and military hospitals would be taken," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Residents in Jodhpur's MDM Medical College began the strike on Saturday night after a crackdown by the police njured 28 doctors and medical students.