Rajasthan doctors call off strike after Govt assurance

Resident doctors in Rajasthan on Tuesday called off their three-day-old strike after the state government assured them that it will take action on the alleged manhandling of some of their colleagues by attenders of an injured patient. "The decision to call off the strike was taken after a meeting was held between the striking doctors and the Jodhpur Divisional Commissioner and Collector in the evening," Principal Secretary (Medical Education) Mukesh Sharma said in Jaipur. On Saturday night, attenders of an injured patient allegedly misbehaved with resident doctors on duty at MDM government hospital in Jodhpur. A scuffle soon broke out between the medics and the kin of the patient following which police resorted to lathicharge to control the situation.
Doctors' in about 40 hospitals in Jodhpur began the strike on Sunday demanding action against senior police and administration officials, private and government doctors. The stir quickly spread to hospitals in districts of Jaipur, Kota, Ajmer and Bikaner. Meanwhile in Jodhpur, the Resident Doctors' Action Committee Convenor Ajay Malviya told reporters that the strike was called off after the state officials assured to take action on their four-point demands, including removal of one additional SP and an ADM city, and FIR against the attendant who triggered the clash. The government also assured to pay compensation to doctors whose equipment, computers and domestic gadgets were damaged during the police action, he said. "This is not our victory over agitation. This is a protection of our self-respect," Malviya said. The strike had crippled government-run medical and health services in Rajasthan, amidst reports that 16 people have died due to alleged lack of medicare following the stir.