Sambalpur/Burla: Patient care at VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) at Burla in Sambalpur district was disrupted for over four hours Tuesday as junior doctors staged a cease work agitation after a notice was issued on election of office bearers of their association.
Tension prevailed at the hospital after medical college principal Bijay Kumar Dutta issued a notice over holding of elections to various posts of officer bearers of the junior doctors’ association (JDA).
Junior doctors led by JDA president Shankar Ramchandani also gheraoed the principal from 9 AM till 1 PM demanding withdrawal of the notice.
Patients in obstetrics and gynecology ward, pediatric ward, medicine and orthopedic wards were the worst hit due to this agitation. Family members of patients admitted to various wards were seen pleading with the junior doctors to attend to the sick.
Institute’s director Dr Sunamali Bag and superintendent Dr Brajamohan Mishra rushed to the spot and held talks with the agitating doctors requesting them to withdraw their stir.
The junior doctors relented after Bag and Mishra postponed the notice and assured them of conducting a counselling meeting of the hostels Wednesday.
After four hours of stir, the junior doctors attended to patients. Ramchandani, however, threatened to intensify the movement if the promises made by Bag and Mishra were not fulfilled.
Speaking to media, Ramchandani said elections for the junior doctors’ association was last held December 14, 2015 and the elected office bearers are yet to complete their period in office which ends in December.
The principal deliberately issued the election notification Monday, junior doctors alleged.
Ramchandani sought to know at whose behest the principal issued the notice and demanded a probe into the matter.
The junior doctors are resorting to strikes at regular intervals seeking solution to various problems in the hospital.
The state government has resolved most of their demands. However, the issuing of the notification came as a surprise with many smelling a political conspiracy behind the move. PNN
