Anil Kakkar

Sirsa, July 25

Government doctors across the district started an indefinite strike today in support of their demands, causing disruption in services at hospitals. Patients faced difficulties, with many having to return without treatment.

District health officials responded to the strike by deploying additional chief medical officers across the district. Sirsa's Civil Hospital, which typically handles over a 1,000 patients daily, saw a similar influx on Thursday despite the strike. Many patients were left waiting for hours and some had to return home without getting a check-up. The strike affected essential services like the ICU, trauma centre, maternity services, although emergency services continued. For Caesarean deliveries, arrangements were made with external doctors via on-call contracts. Patients who came for ultrasound scans were left in the lurch, despite queuing up for tokens since 7 am.

Dr Gaurav Bhatti, district president of the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association, stated that discussions with government officials regarding their demands were under way since Thursday afternoon. He said the government had agreed to only one demand, i.e. reduction of the bond amount from Rs 1 crore to Rs 50 lakh, till then and negotiations on other demands were under way.

Notably, 104 doctors were on strike at the Civil Hospital, while 10 were on duty. To cover for the protesting doctors, 14 additional chief medical officers were deployed — six in the labour ward, five in the OPD and three for consultations.