Patna: The indefinite strike by resident doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna, entered its second consecutive day, bringing all OPD and emergency services to a complete standstill. The prolonged strike has caused immense distress to hundreds of patients from various districts of Bihar who had come to the premier medical institution for treatment.
Scenes of long queues and crowds of exhausted and distraught patients outside the hospital were commonplace, with many returning home in despair after failing to receive care. Despite the ongoing crisis, a meeting was held between the AIIMS Director and the striking doctors on Saturday, but no official announcement regarding the end of the strike has been made yet.
The atmosphere on the AIIMS campus grew tense on Saturday as hundreds of resident doctors conducted a peaceful march from the OPD to the administrative building. They chanted slogans such as “Want Justice,” “MLA Mafi Mango,” and “Safety for Doctors,” emphasizing that their protest was against a flawed system, not a deliberate act to harm patients. “We are starting our strike with a peaceful march,” a protesting doctor stated, “where the Honorable Executive Director will communicate with us. We invite all of you to join it.”
In response to the demonstration, Executive Director Dr. Saurabh Verma addressed the protesters, promising to consider their demands. Dr. Verma assured the doctors that CCTV cameras would be installed throughout the institute to ensure their safety and that any future incidents of misbehavior would be dealt with seriously. “You will be given full security, adequate time, and strict action will be taken on any kind of indecency with you,” he said.
The strike’s most severe impact has been on economically disadvantaged patients who traveled from remote areas like Darbhanga, Siwan, Sasaram, Nalanda, East Champaran, Kaimur, Gopalganj, Jehanabad, Aurangabad, Lakhisarai, Arwal, and Samastipur. These patients reported that they could not find any doctors and were unable to get prescriptions issued, leaving them in a dire situation.
