Lucknow: The high court on Friday said doctors at Lucknow's King George's Medical University would pay for deaths caused by their recent four-day strike. The court said a panel would find out, within two months, the number of deaths caused because of the strike, and the doctors would pay Rs 25 lakh to each affected family. The government would pay the money, and deduct it from the doctors' salaries, the court said.

Hearing a PIL against the strike between May 30 and June 2, the court said that doctors in public institutions had no legal right to strike work, and directed the state government to frame a strict policy to ensure patients did not get affected.

“The government must frame a policy with strict provisions to avoid such incidents in future. If anybody still dares to strike work, stringent actions must be taken so that others do not follow such conduct,“ said the court, while asking the government to submit a compliance report by September 10. About 350 KGMU junior doctors went on strike to protest fresh admissions in post-graduate courses in state medical colleges. Admissions were done in April on the basis of Uttar Pradesh Medical Entrance Examination (UPPGMEE) 2016 but were cancelled on May 26 following Supreme Court order which directed state government to conduct admissions afresh after allotting up to 30% additional marks to candidates of Provincial Medical Health Services (PMHS) who have served in rural areas.

The strike was called off on June 2 after court pulled up authorities after hearing the PIL filed by a local lawyer Moti Lal Yadav against the strike. Friday's order was on the same PIL. The court said a doctor's duty was to treat patients, and not doing this was a serious professional misconduct.

The pinch of doctors' absence in government hospitals was not felt by political, administrative and judicial class because they preferred private facilities, the court said. Principals of state medical college and the vice chancellor of KGMU have been directed to identify those who had been on strike and deny them allowances, salary and honorarium as also extend their training period by the duration of striking period. In order to curb such strikes in future, the court directed government to prepare a permanent record of doctors' conduct and make it public on the internet. The permanent appraisal record of all striking doctors will be put up on a website and will be communicated to Medical Council of India (MCI) for consideration of license cancellation or suspension of services. Guidelines and conduct rules for all state doctors will also be put on the website within three months.



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