As the strike by junior doctors in five medical colleges across the state entered its fifth day, the state government has adopted a tough stand.

The junior doctors are on strike demanding a hike in their salary as per the Sixth Pay Commission and inclusion of non-practising allowance (NPA) in their salary.

Harbhajan Singh, Principal Secretary, Medical Education said: “We are trying to convince the doctors to withdraw their strike. All their legitimate demands will be met but they cannot force the government in this manner.”

He added: “The government is not insensitive and hence we have kept the harsh steps as the last option. The junior doctors are medical students and we are trying to explain them that an action against them would spoil their career.”

Asked that the NPA is already being given to the junior doctors of the Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University (CSMMU), Singh said the university has been asked to stop such allowance. “The government has agreed the proposal to include the NPA in the salary but the institutions were told that it would not be implemented till a formal government order is issued,” he said.

“The CSMMU and the SGPGIMS decided on their own to provide the NPA,” he added. We have asked the SGPGIMS to stop such an allowance till the formal order is issued, he added.

Meanwhile, the junior doctors of the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College (MLNMC) in Allahabad continued their strike on Saturday. One more death was reported today. The situation was grim in the state-owned SRN Hospital where almost all the wards looked deserted.

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