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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : May 10, 2013 10:28 AM IST
Resident doctors at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi called off their day-old indefinite strike after the administration agreed to their demands for better amenities and salaries, among others. All our demands including release of four months' salary of interns, availability of potable water in wards, upgradation of the canteen and security in the premises have been accepted, said a doctor on the condition anonymity.
On Wednesday, around 1,000 resident doctors at the central government-run hospital went on strike putting patients to inconvenience. The strike hit the outpatient department but the emergency and the intensive care unit services were running smoothly, officials said. Doctors also complained of lack of accommodation for doctors in the hostel.
India.com Health View
The trend of going on strike to demand one s rights is a practice that got this country its independence but it s a tradition that needs to stop. We are no longer seeking independence from a foreign power. In the last one year, we ve witnessed numerous strikes by doctors, chemists (who re going on strike tomorrow), nurses and other members of the healthcare services. Last year, when the Indian Medical Association (IMA) docs went on strike the Supreme Court asked the IMA if it was ethical for doctors to strike? It s quite a valid question. In a country like ours where the public healthcare system is endemic as it is, the last thing we need is innumerable strikes by doctors and other healthcare practitioners. It s actually illegal for them to go on strike because they provide essential services and can be booked under the Essential Services Maintenance Act but the law isn t implemented properly. Of course we realise, that many of the demands are perfectly legitimate and necessary but going on strike every time until the authorities accede a particular set of demands is not the solution and the everyone needs to figure out a better way to deal with it, a way that doesn t make the common man suffer for the government s apathy.
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