Patna: Junior doctors Monday night decided to postpone their call for indefinite strike till April 30 following a written assurance by the Bihar government that their demands would be looked into sympathetically. Patna Medical College Hospital Junior Doctor representative Dr R Ranjan said an 80-member delegation of the doctors called on state Health Department Principal Secretary Amarjeet Sinha. Ranjan claimed that during the meeting Sinha promised state health officials would study allowances and stipends being paid in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and others and the state would ensure that the allowances were hiked with effect from April 1.
Ranjan said, "We have decided to postpone the strike called from this midnight till April 30" as the delegation was satisfied with the deliberations with the health department Principal Secretary.
Earlier Health Minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the strike called by junior doctors was "not in the interests of people" as the state government had taken their demand for raising monthly stipends "very seriously" and appealed to the junior doctors to end the strike in larger interests of public.
On his reported statement at a function on Saturday that "we also know about taking stern action... We also know how to chop off hands...", the minister claimed "my statement had been distorted and wrongly placed... it has created confusions as the government is the protector and would also honour the interests of the medicos.
PTI