This is the fifth day of an indefinite doctor's strike at Patna’s Medical College and Hospital, in eastern Bihar.

Over 500 junior doctors are demanding full salaries and not just stipends. The strike is badly affecting the hospital’s emergency services and postponing surgical procedures.

Relatives feel forced to transfer patients to private hospitals.

[Janendra Singh, Patient’s Relative]:
"We went to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) with our patient for the treatment of a heart ailment. But there was no one attending us. Finally, we took the patient to the emergency ward, and the doctors present there also didn't attend to us."

Post-graduate doctors constitute 90 percent of the staff at Patna’s hospital.

Apparently, eastern Bihar’s government has asked local authorities to hold meetings with the strikers. Meanwhile, scores of poor patients will just have to wait.