Medical services hit; resident doctors, students block roads

Chandigarh, May 18 (UNI) Medical services in a majority of government and private medical colleges in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh were hit on the fourth consecutive day today, following the strike by resident doctors, interns and medical students in protest against the proposed reservation policy of the central government.

Medical services were affected at the prestigious PGIMER and Government Medical College here. Resident doctors of PGI staged a dharna outside the OPD while, students of the Government Medical College blocked the main Chandigarh-Delhi road for nearly one and-a-half hour.

In Amritsar, medical services at the Guru Nanak Hospital, SGPC -run Guru Ram Dass Institute of Medical Services and Research and other medical institutions were affected as resident doctors and students blocked the National Highway One for nearly two hours.

Medical services at Dayananad Medical College (DMC), Lord Mahavira Homeopathy Institute and Baba Jaswant Singh Dental College in Ludhiana were affected as nearly 1000 students, doctors and members of Indian Medical Association took out a procession and blocked the Chandigarh-Samrala road.

Services at the Civil Hospital were also affected from 0900 to 1200 hours in protest against the proposed reservation policy.

However, Christian Medical College (CMC) continued to function normally.

At PGIMS, Rohtak resident doctors run parallel OPD near the dharna site as strike continued. However, a pro-reservation group today staged a dharna near the PGIMS director's office.

The emergency and OPD services were hit in the two government hospitals in Patiala as the strike by resident doctors and medical students continued.

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