Intern doctors withdraw strike following health minister’s assurance

Post graduate trainees and intern doctors agitating to realise a four-point demand have called off their strike following the health minister’s assurance of increase in salary and allowances.

They withdrew their ongoing strike after a meeting with Health Minister Dr Samant Lal Sen today (March 27).

After the meeting with intern doctors and Postgraduate Trainee Doctors Association, Samant Lal Sen said, “The demands of the agitating doctors are reasonable. It is not possible to meet the family expenses at present with so little money. Their salaries and allowances will be increased just after Eid.”

The intern doctors were on strike for the last four days to realise four demands including increase in allowance and payment of arrears, severely disrupting normal operations in different hospitals of the country due to which the patients have been suffering immensely.

The agitators held a sit-in programme at the central Shaheed Minar from 11:30am to 1:30pm today (Thursday) with the participation of hundreds of doctors. At the same time, they also demanded to pass a law in the parliament to stop assaults in the workplace.

After the sit-in programme, a delegation of 20 doctors went to Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery to meet the health minister. After the meeting, they called off their strike.