MP High Court directs striking doctors to return to work

Taking a strong view of striking government doctors paralysing health services in the state, the Madhya Pradesh High Court directed them today, to immediately report for duty by 5 pm.
The development comes after the BJP-led MP state government imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) yesterday.
Acting on a public interest litigation (PIL), the MP High Court directed striking doctors and other staff to report for duty, citing a Supreme Court order, that doctors cannot go on strike.
"Doctors who are on strike should resume work, failing which they will be held liable for flouting orders passed by the Court and for other action," the MP High Court said in its directive.

The court also directed the MP state government to give wide publicity to its order and listed the matter for further hearing on February 3.
The Indian Medical Association and Madhya Pradesh Chikitsa Adhikari Sangh had called for a strike against the police registering a case under Section 304 (A) against a government doctor and a nurse in Seoni district's Lakhnadoun Civil Hospital, where a woman had died during treatment.

The doctor and the nurse were subsequently arrested and released after a probe, even as the government initiated a process to withdraw charges against them.
MP health department officials also said that orders have been issued to withdraw the cases registered against them.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh's Principal Secretary for Health and Family Welfare Pravir Krishan told reporters that the MP health department has made all necessary arrangements to deal with the strike.