Eighty-year-old Kali Bahadur was the only patient admitted in the eight-bedded ICU. An asthma patient, Rashida said: “The services are extremely poor. No proper attention is given to the patients. In the absence of JRs, senior doctors visit the ward only once a day.” Chamanganj resident Dilshan, who came to meet his ailing cousin, said: “Only poor patients are still here. Others have moved to private hospitals.”

The JRs, however, remained adamant on their stand. Pushepndra, a doctor at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College (GSVMMC), said: “ESMA or no ESMA, our demands are genuine, therefore the struggle will continue.”

Citing the example of recent work boycott by JRs in June, he said: “That time, too, the authorities had given us a verbal assurance, but no official decision was taken.” “During our previous work boycott, we had started a parallel OPD for the patients,” he said.

Principal of GSVM, Anand Swaroop said ESMA has yet not been invoked. “We are confident they will return to work in the next 24 hours,” he added. “Senior doctors, interns and Provincial Medical Health Service doctors are ensuring that services are not affected at LLR,”said DM Anil Kumar Sagar.