Doctors protest over non-payment of salaries, boycott OPD services

An earlier media report in Times of India had stated that salary payments were stopped in the hospital since the transfer of former medical superintendent Dr. K N Singh to Jamshedpur's Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital. A letter was also written to the Deputy Commissioner requesting the payment of pending salaries on October 18.

Speaking to the TOI about the issues, a senior resident had said, "We have not been paid our monthly honorarium for four months. We received our salaries last in May. We do not know whether we will get our salaries for October or not."

The strike also affected the emergency services in the hospital since the morning, reports Times of India.

Commenting on the same, a senior medical officer at MMCH Dr. Sanjay Kumar told the daily, "The resident doctors have locked the emergency room and we are forced to sit outside. The patients and their attendants are getting quite restive over the shut-down of emergency services."

However, he also added that high-risk patients were managed by the medical officers. Police officers from the Town police station also arrived at the venue later at the protesting site to manage the issues.

Medical superintendent Dr R D Nagesh said, "I am only a part-time superintendent and the government has not provided me the power of drawing and disbursing salaries. Hence, despite the availability of funds, I cannot release the doctors' and other staff members' remuneration."

The superintendent also added that he had written more than half a dozen letters to the health department of the state, asking them to give him the authority to draw and disburse salaries, which however remained unfulfilled.

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