Post News Network
Berhampur, Dec 4: The Junior Doctors’ Association (JDA) of MKCG Medical College and Hospital here launched a cease-work agitation Thursday protesting non-fulfillment of their demands.
About 200 protesting doctors sat in front of the medical college and later took out a rally to meet medical superintendent Dr Ashok Kumar Behera as none of the officials came to them for a discussion. However, they resumed the protest as Behera was not present at his office.
Healthcare services in the hospital were reportedly affected, but the authorities denied it. The junior doctors, who carry a major burden of health services, are considered the backbone of the hospital. In their absence, it is learnt that male and female wards of the hospital were merged into one. All the professors, assistant professors and senior residents were seen attending to patients. The strike has completely paralysed healthcare services at the hospital, locals said.
According to reports, the hospital has been plagued by several inadequacies. The JDA has been demanding sufficient medical equipment in casualty ward, more medical staff and tight security arrangements for the staffers. But, the authorities didn’t pay heed to their demands, forcing them to resort to agitation, the association’s vice-president Abinash Routray and its secretary Subhakanta Mishra said.
JDA members play a major role in providing emergency healthcare services, but their minimum demands were not taken into account, junior doctors Chandan Gantayat and Sanjiv Pradhan said. The protests would continue till their demands were met, they added.
On the other hand, principal of the medical college Arun Kumar Dandapat and Behera held a meeting with the professors to take stock of the situation.
Everything is normal and health services have not been affected, Dandapat claimed. The demands of JDA have been communicated to the government, he said, adding a delegation of health department officials would be here to discuss the issue.
The authorities sought time from JDA to resolve the matter, but the latter resorted to cease-work all of a sudden, the superintendent said.
