Bihar Doctors to Boycott Work: The Bihar Health Service physicians resolved on Monday to skip work on August 18 and 19, and if the government does not take action against the officials who are reported to have mistreated them lately during a training programme, they will then go on an indefinite strike.
The Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (BIPARD) held a training session in Gaya on July 31. The doctors who work for the Bihar health service would abstain from working both days, August 18 and 19, in protest. The convener of the IMA Bihar action committee, Ajay Kumar, acknowledges that the Indian Medical Association (IMA) supports them and their objectives.
According to Kumar, the Bihar Health Service Association (BHSA)’s government physicians have summoned a general meeting for August 20 to decide whether to embark on an indefinite strike if their demands are not met. Though it supports them, the IMA also urges the government to start negotiations and take corrective action to stop the boycott and strike, Kumar continued.
The government hospitals in the state, from the block level to the medical colleges and hospitals, are staffed by these health service physicians. In Bihar, there are more than 6,000 such physicians. On July 31, a group of these doctors travelled to Gaya for a training course in public health administration run by the BIPARD.
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Bihar Doctors to Boycott Work: Reason
The doctors said that two doctors were each given a single bed in a single room as lodging. They discovered rats scurrying on kitchenware and insects in their meals.
“When we complained about the lack of basic amenities, the BIPARD officials who were present to oversee the training used nasty language, made us feel inferior and unwanted, and urged the security staff to eject us. Under the condition of anonymity, a doctor told this newspaper that a total of 12 of us had been expelled from the training curriculum.
K.K. Pathak, the director general of BIPARD and additional chief secretary of the education department, followed it up with a letter to the state health department recommending departmental charges against the accused doctors.
After it got to the BHSA and IMA Bihar branch, the problem grew worse. They gave the state till August 6 to act on the matter and take into account their other demands for better service conditions. The government did not, however, ask them to a meeting.
When this newspaper called, Pathak did not answer. Arya Gautam, senior assistant director of BIPARD, disagreed with the accusations. “At our training location in Gaya, we have double occupancy accommodations, but the doctors requested single occupancy. Since it was against the law, we were unable to comply. On July 31, the doctors caused a commotion for three to four hours. Twelve doctors who were encouraging others were sent back, according to Gautam.
