By IANS
Patna : A two-day token strike by Bihar government doctors to press their demands, including pay hike, that began Thursday is likely to hit health services in the state.
Over 4,000 doctors working in various hospitals and public health centres in Bihar are protesting against the alleged failure of the state government to pay them according to central scales, implement an assured career promotion scheme and disallow lodging of police complaints against medics without verification.
“All the government doctors are on two-day token strike,” said Dineshwar Singh, general secretary of Bihar State Health Services Association (BSHSA).
Singh said the doctors would not attend emergency services or conduct post-mortem tests during the strike.
Last week, BSHSA in its executive committee meeting held here threatened that the doctors would proceed on an indefinite strike from Feb 21 if their demands were not met, Singh said.
He said that despite Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s assurance and the Patna High Court’s intervention, the state government had not fulfilled their demands.
However, Health Minister Chandra Mohan Rai tols IANS: “The government will meet all the demands if government doctors submit the affidavits.”
“We have deployed 2,000 medical officers appointed on contract in the health centres to deliver the services to common people,” he added.
The six medical colleges in the state would not be affected as the teaching doctors have decided not to join the strike.
Patna High Court in December had disallowed the doctors from going on a strike then after hearing two suits against the planned move.