Pvt hospitals to go on strike in Delhi

New Delhi: Anti-reservation protests intensify in Delhi as all private hospitals, nursing homes and clinics are to go on strike from Monday. OPD's will remain closed however, critical care will continue.

This is the first time in the Capital that small-time practitioners would also join the strike.

Medical students' protests against the Government's reservation proposal have intensified in many parts of the nation with medicos in Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Vadodara also joining their counterparts in Delhi and Mumbai.

Marking a new step-up in their agitation, the medical students have called a 24-hour bandh on Monday. They will also observe a nationwide strike on May 25 at the call of the Indian Medical Association.

Thousands of resident and junior doctors are also likely to join the strike. Doctors in Delhi and Mumbai have also threatened to go on a strike on Monday.

The IMA president, however, said they will ensure that there is no inconvenience to the ICU patients during the strike.

Meanwhile, the street protests in Delhi against the quota proposal spread over to Mumbai on Saturday and police resorted to lathicharge and arrested more than 85 students in order to tackle the situation.

Hundreds of agitated students tried to block the road in front of the Raj Bhavan and refused to move, the police had to drag them away.

Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy said the students were trying to force into the Governor's residence and police were forced to take action.

"No one was injured but we are holding a medical examination of those arrested. There was a melee at the site and some people may have fell down and got injured," he said.

With the Indian Medical Association calling for a 24-hour nationwide doctors strike, the situation is likely to worsen on Monday.

Nearly 150 junior students and interns of Government Medical College, Amritsar, have gone on an indefinite hunger strike.

But there might be some respite for patients in Delhi as striking interns and resident doctors plan to start parallel OPDs outside hospital premises.

While condemning Saturday's incident, President of Resident Doctor Association, Dr Vinod Patra stated, "We are on a hunger strike." He also talked about the future strategy.

Meanwhile in Delhi, water canons fired up the already raging anti-reservation protests. Resident and senior resident doctors have joined the already striking interns.

The interns and resident doctors of Delhi's premier medical college are already on a strike and the coming week will see a series of pro-reservation rallies as well.

Though senior faculty and consultants have been running emergency services, there just aren't enough doctors. Only serious patients are being treated and the rest are being turned away.

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