The decision to work on Monday followed an appeal from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to the faculty not to go on leave and the withdrawal by the government of its earlier pay offer.

Members of the Faculty Association said AIIMS Director P.K. Dave met the PM on Sunday and apprised him of the apathy of the bureaucracy in the Finance Ministry towards the faculty. The Prime Minister agreed to look into the problem and appealed to the faculty to refrain from going on leave.

``The government is responsible for the health of a country. Here governments are ready to give land worth Rs 100 crore free of cost for the setting up of a private hospital but are not willing to spend an extra Rs 40 lakh annually to retain the best doctors and teachers in an institute meant for the people,'' said Dr Anup Saraya, one of the faculty members.