The protesting private doctors in Karnataka finally called off their strike after a two-hour meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday and an assurance that some clauses of the KPME (Amendment) Bill, 2017, would be modified before it is tabled on Monday.
Private medical practitioners in Karnataka have been on strike for five days opposing the Bill that envisages capping of treatment prices and stringent punishment, crippling medical services across the State.
Taking note of the crisis, the High Court of Karnataka had on Friday ordered the doctors to restore medical services.
Consensus was hammered out on Friday evening after the striking doctors’ associations and the State government met for the second time in the last five days.
Following “successful talks”, Indian Medical Association (Karnataka) president H. N. Ravindra announced that the strike would be called off.
Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar said he was “fully satisfied” with the talks.
He added that the doctors were apprehensive only because they had not studied the KPME Bill in detail. “We have now cleared all doubts, fear and apprehensions,” he added.
