President of the Junior Doctors Association (JDA) Pritu Dhalaria began a fast unto death from Thursday morning, while other members of the association observed a relay fast to press for withdrawal of the order on evening OPD. The decision to take services of private practitioners was taken at a meeting their associations had with District Collector R M Shah on Wednesday.

A co-ordination committee was formed at the meeting to tackle the situation arising out of the strike comprising Olpad MLA Dhansukh Patel, Dr Jitendera Patel, Dr Chandresh Jardosh, Dr Shailesh Shah, Dr Mukul Choksi, in-charge superintendent of New Civil Dr Khadija Saifee and acting dean of Government Medical College Dr S K Bajpayee.

Dhalaria said he would continue the fast till the practice of evening OPD, which according to him served no purpose, was discontinued. The association on Wednesday had claimed that some residents were being pressured by their seniors to join duties or face a possible failure in the examination.

Dhalaria claimed a parallel OPD was started by the association in the morning. Dhalaria and other residents are protesting in the lobby leading to the dean's office. They said the government had asked them to withdraw their strike first before coming to the negotiating table.