Cracking the whip on the striking doctors in J-K, the Omar Abdullah Government on Friday took strong action, suspending 26 post-graduate students and transferring 13 Registrars and 11 Assistant Surgeons from hospitals to far-flung areas. The Government has given 24-hour notice to the rest of around 7,000 striking doctors to report to duty or face action. The Government has also decided to go for walk-in interviews to fill the vacancies on Monday.

"There is a limit to everything. These doctors have crossed all limits of decency and were adamant on not returning to work, so we had to take action," said J-K Medical Education Minister R S Chibb. He said if the situation warranted, the government would not hesitate to invoke ESMA (Essential Services Maintenance Act).

A heavy contingent of police has been deployed around the main associated hospitals of Government Medical College (GMC) in Srinagar and Jammu. All eyes are now on associations of the two medical colleges and Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, which have to decide on whether to support the striking doctors.

More than 7,000 doctors across the state have been on strike for the last 18 days, crippling the entire public health system. They are demanding revision of pay, grades of Assistant Surgeons at par with their counterparts in the rest of the country and a legal framework for a secure environment for doctors to work.