Docs strike on pay delays: Surgeries cancelled, patients in queue for hrs

Bhopal: Patients across Madhya Pradesh endured hours of waiting, cancelled surgeries and mounting distress on Monday as nearly 8,000 junior doctors staged a statewide strike demanding overdue stipend hikes.At Gandhi Medical College associated Hamidia hospital in Bhopal, the impact was stark. More than 20 scheduled surgeries were cancelled or deferred, leaving patients anxious and uncertain. On a typical day, the hospital performs over 60 surgeries, but by evening only three dozen interventions had been completed.Emergency services, including cesarean deliveries, continued uninterrupted. Yet outpatient departments were forced into makeshift tents, where patients queued for hours under the sun. Sameer, a patient suffering from leg pain, said he had been "wandering since morning, distressed and unable to get treatment." His ordeal reflected the frustration of many others caught between the protest and the hospital's reduced capacity.Expectant mothers waited nervously, surgical patients saw their procedures postponed, and those seeking routine care were left in limbo. Hospital officials insisted "life-saving services were not compromised," but the disruption amid the strike underscored the critical dependence on junior doctors for essential patient care. The strike was called by the Junior Doctors' Association (JUDA), demanding implementation of a stipend revision promised under a June 7, 2021 govt order. That order mandated stipends be revised in line with inflation, effective April 1, 2025. Despite repeated appeals, neither arrears nor revised stipends have been paid, leaving junior doctors to escalate their protest.By afternoon, JUDA leaders met deputy chief minister and Health Minister Rajendra Shukla in Jabalpur. Following assurances that stipend orders would be issued within days, doctors agreed to defer their strike until March 16.JUDA warned, however, that if promises are not honoured, they will resume their agitation after March 16 with "stronger measures."The one-day stoppage in the city highlighted the fragile balance of the state's healthcare system. Patients bore the brunt of postponed surgeries, disrupted outpatient services, and hours of waiting in tents, while junior doctors pressed for commitments they say are long overdue.