THE RESIDENT doctors of Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), who had stayed away from the ‘reservation issue’ so far, are now jumping onthe protest bandwagon, announcing an indefinite strike post-midnight on Thursday.
The resident doctors will boycott all work, including emergency services. Earlier on Thursday, they boycotted work from 10 am to 1 pm and also took out a procession from the hospital building to the administrative block. However, a faction of the resident doctors stayed away from the procession.
Dr Himanshu Goyal of the Resident Doctors Association said the doctors also raised slogans to protest against the proposed hike in reservation and convened a general body meeting in which the decision was taken to go on strike post-midnight. He expressed anguish that neither the Prime Minister nor any senior police officer issued any statement after the lathicharge on anti-reservation medical students who were staging a peaceful demonstration in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, owing to the demonstration, OPD services could operate only after 1.30 pm leading to problems for patients and their relatives.
Members of the faction that did not participate in the demonstration on Thursday said that they were upset and anguished over the lathicharge in Mumbai, but they were neither against reservation nor in favour of it and they would participate in the strike.
{{/usCountry}}Members of the faction that did not participate in the demonstration on Thursday said that they were upset and anguished over the lathicharge in Mumbai, but they were neither against reservation nor in favour of it and they would participate in the strike.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, in Kanpur the GSVM Medical College students finally decided to go on an indefinite strike from Wednesday night to protest against the Centre’s OBC quota move.
GSVM students, who requested anonymity, said medicos of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, played a pivotal role in clinching the decision and students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) provided the moral support.
The out patients department at the LLR Hospital remained closed on the first day of the indefinite strike by the nedicos. However, emergency services remained open for two hours from 12 pm.
The Radiodiagnosis Department functioned as usual but the X-rays and ultrasounds were fewer in number on account of the poor turnout of patients at the hospital. Though several junior resident doctors were seen performing to their duties at the LLR Hospital, they too extended their support to the strike.
The girl students openly opposed the proposed reservation hike and sat at the entrance of the emergency ward.