Expressing dissatisfaction over their demands not being met by the Nitish Kumar government, about 300 junior doctors from four medical colleges across the State on Sunday joined Lalu Prasad’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party, claiming “ it was the only party that could resolve their problems.”
While announcing the constitution of a medical cell within the RJD, party chief Mr. Prasad promised that “if his party was voted back to power, it would ensure the termination of the contract system and regular recruitment of junior doctors.”
President of the Bihar Junior Doctors Association Dhananjay Dwivedi said “around 300 junior doctors from the Patna, Darbhanga, Shri Krishna and Nalanda Medical Colleges” had decided to enter the RJD fold following the “NDA [National Democratic Alliance] government’s failure to terminate the contract system or check the rising number of attacks on junior doctors by the angry kin of patients who died in these hospitals.”
“We believed that as Mr. Kumar was a ‘technical’ man, he would understand our problems. Instead, he failed to ensure the security of junior doctors. About 400 cases of assault by upset relatives have gone unrecorded,” said Mr. Dwivedi, adding that “hospital facilities were woefully inadequate, which often hampered their work.”
Alleging an acute shortage of medicines and live-saving drugs in the hospitals, the doctors further demanded immediate establishment of the Health Professionals Protection Act.
Stating that “Patna Medical College Hospital was the High Court of all Bihar hospitals,” Mr. Prasad said the “doctors were performing operations in an atmosphere loaded with fear.”
“There is no system of restricting agitated relatives of patients. If emergency and Out Patient Departments are crammed with 200 odd relatives who threaten a doctor, then how is he to discharge his duties?” said Mr. Prasad.
Criticising the decline in quality of education in medical colleges, Mr. Prasad said “not a single medical college has been opened during Mr. Kumar’s tenure.”
The State witnessed two major strikes by junior doctors in August and November last year over the issue of the contract system and an increase in their stipends.
Monday, February 15, 2010
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