“Don’t force us to withdraw from emergency services too": Bihar Junior Doctors' fresh warning amid statewide strike

Non-emergency health services in Bihar have come to a screeching halt over the last two days, as junior doctors across the state are on strike for better working conditions. 

While the Junior Doctors’ Association of the Patna Medical College & Hospital (JDA-PMCH) is leading the strike, which began yesterday, Wednesday, September 17, JDAs from every hospital and health centre in Bihar are also participating.

Additionally, JDA-PMCH stated that the services will remain halted until the junior doctors’ demands are met. 

What the JDAs want

The concerns of the junior doctors are two-fold: the long and expensive bond policy in Bihar, and improper working conditions for resident doctors. 

In a statement issued Tuesday, September 16, the JDA-PMCH alleged that they had presented their demands to the relevant authorities in the past through repeated appeals and representations, but these had all fallen on deaf ears. 

As a result, junior doctors at PMCH registered their dissent by wearing black ribbons around their arms, and announced they would withdraw from all non-emergency services, including Outpatient Duty (OPD), wards, and operating theatres from Wednesday, until their demands are fulfilled. 

The demands posed by the junior doctors across the state are as follows:

• Limiting the bond service duration to one year and reducing the non-compliance penalty from Rs 40 lakhs to Rs 1 lakh

• Counting the bond service as experience of senior residency 

• Revision of the salaries of resident doctors as per their current workloads and industry standards

• Allotting bond service postings based on the doctors’ specialisation and following merit-cum-choice

• Including the time period between postgraduate (PG) final results and the commencement of bond posting in the bond service

• Recovering only the penalty and not the entire salary for the period of bond service, in case of resignation before the bond service ends

“We respectfully submit that our demands are reasonable, just and necessary to ensure justice, motivation and efficiency among resident doctors,” the Association urged in its statement from Tuesday, calling the authorities to respond to their demands swiftly and avoid the disruption of health services in Bihar. 

Doctors warn to escalate if demands are unmet

On Wednesday, representatives of JDA-PMCH were invited by the Additional Chief Secretary, Department of Health, Government of Bihar, for discussions, but these talks yielded no result. A spokesperson of the association told EdexLive that the officials were not willing to listen to their demands. 

“They were willing to reduce the bond period to two years, but not reduce the penalty for leaving the service. Their suggestions had nothing to do with our demands,” a spokesperson from the JDA revealed.

As a result, the doctors decided to resume their strike and threatened forced withdrawal from emergency services if their demands were not met.

“The JDA once again appeals to the government to address our genuine concerns without further delay, in the interest of medical students, resident doctors, and ultimately, the patients of Bihar,” the doctors plead. 

The ongoing strike also garnered support from medical associations in Bihar, such as the Democratic Medical Association (DMA).