Nearly 300 teachers of a medical college in Kanpur resigned on Monday in the wake of agitation by junior doctors against the arrest of their colleagues paralysing medical services in Uttar Pradesh, even as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav appealed to them to call off the strike.
“The CCTV footage of whatever happened in Kanpur is available and will be probed. Officers have been asked to conduct a probe, meet representatives of both the sides and take action against those who were on the wrong side,” Mr. Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.
“The government is of the view that strike should end. It is my appeal to doctors that keeping aside their dispute they should execute their responsibilities and save human lives,” the Chief Minister said, assuring justice would be done.
Medical services continued to be disrupted for the fourth consecutive day with medical college as well as private doctors across the state joining the stir demanding release of 24 junior doctors of GSV Medical College and action against SSP, Kanpur Yashashwi Yadav and Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki.
Nearly 300 doctor teachers of the medical college gave their resignation to Director, Medical Education K K Gupta to protest against “barbaric” police action on 24 junior doctors and their subsequent arrest, said Aarti Lal Chandani, IMA Kanpur unit chief and Head of Medicine Department of GSV medical college.
The agitating doctors have also written to the Prime Minister and the President apprising them about the police action and sought their intervention into the matter.
Kanpur police SP (West) Gaurav Singh said all 24 junior doctors, allegedly involved in stone pelting, were arrested on Sunday. He said police has been deployed around the medical college to avoid any untoward incident.
In Lucknow’s King George’s Medical University, agitating junior doctors locked the OPD to protest the incident and sat on a dharna at the university gate.
Taking note of the situation, KGMU authorities have cancelled leave of senior faculty members to ensure treatment to the patients.
In Aligarh, junior doctors at the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical college, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) also went on strike.
President of the Resident Doctors Association Mohammad Ahsanullah told reporters the strike would continue till Mr. Solanki was arrested.
Medical services remained paralysed at Sir Sunderlal Hospital, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in Varanasi.
“All medical facilities of the hospital will remain closed from today onward indefinitely,” said Kartik Goel, President Resident Doctors Assocation, BHU.
Meanwhile, AAP leaders Kumar Vishwas and Sanjay Singh have also extended their support to the agitation saying the party is with the doctors on the issue.
Government hospitals Ursula and KPM Hospital are open and patients of the medical college are being transferred there for treatment.
Ms. Chandani accused supporters of SP MLA Solanki of registering fake FIRs against her and junior doctors.
“All the doctors have resigned wilfully in protest against the police lathicharge on the junior doctors of the college and their arrest,” Ms. Chandani had said.
Senior government officials from Lucknow and Kanpur on Monday met striking doctors asking them to end the boycott but they were adamant on their demands.
The IMA Kanpur chief claimed that nearly 2000 private doctors in the city are also not working in support of the strike and all nursing homes and private hospitals too were shut.
A clash broke out on Friday night between supporters of SP MLA Irfan Solanki and junior doctors of the GSV Medical College.
The clash occurred when the Aryanagar MLA objected to some junior doctors of the college allegedly misbehaving with an elderly person at the Medical College Square, SSP Yashasvi Yadav had said.
Following unruly scenes, the police later resorted to lathicharge to disperse the crowd. The incident left several people, including police personnel, journalists and many civilians injured, sources had said. The MLA was also injured in the clash, Mr. Yadav had said.
36 junior doctors were arrested after the incident. Twelve of them were later released. Almost 400 medical students and junior doctors got injured and a dozen are serious, Ms. Chandani had said.
