The doctors, however, called off the protest on Sunday after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa promised to meet their demands.
The doctors in Mysuru district, who went on a strike three days ago following the suicide of Dr SR Nagendra, called off the protest on Sunday. For the three days, COVID-19 testing was largely halted as medicos were on a strike. The Mysuru District Karnataka Government Medical Officers Association, however, said that the doctors will continue work but will wear black bands as a sign of protest against the government. The protest was called off after Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa appealed to the doctors, stating that their demands would be considered. “Since the protest began, COVID-19 tests were largely not conducted as doctors and lab technicians were on strike. However, we have decided to work under protest by wearing black bands until the inquiry into Dr Nagendra’s death is complete,” said Dr Devi Anand, President of the Mysuru District Karnataka Government Medical Officers Association. Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Shankar refused to comment on the issue of tests not being conducted for three continuous days. However, he is heading the inquiry into Dr Nagendra’s death and will submit the report to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa. The testing has resumed as of Monday, the district administration said. What happened to Dr Nagendra? Dr Nagendra, a 43-year-old Taluk Health Officer (THO) at Nanjangud, took his own life allegedly due to harassment by Zilla Panchayat CEO, IAS officer Prashant Kumar Mishra. He was found dead at his quarters located within the Alanahalli Police Station limits in Mysuru city, where he had been staying alone since the last five months. Nagendra’s family was living separately and the doctor had moved into the quarters as he was on COVID-19 duty. The protesting doctors claimed that IAS officer PK Mishra was “arrogant and abusive”, and that he had set COVID-19 testing targets that were “impossible to achieve” due to lack of adequate personnel. They claimed that working without a single day leave was stressful and many doctors were burnt out. The doctors on strike alleged that PK Mishra constantly abused the deceased doctor and that he took the drastic step as he was unable to deal with the pressure. An FIR hs been registered against IAS officer PK Mishra under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code at the Alanahalli Police Station. He has been transferred without a posting and Mysuru DC Abhiram Shankar has been appointed as acting CEO of the Nanjangud Zilla Panchayat. The doctors’ demands The protesting doctors demanded that IAS officers must not be appointed as nodal officers for health-related duties. They demanded that a retired doctor from the Health Department be given this job. “He was under pressure to ramp up testing for Nanjangud taluk. The IAS officers have no idea how the medical sphere works and are obsessed with numbers rather than assessing whether adequate resources and personnel are there to meet these impossible targets. Dr Nagendra, who died, had requested on multiple occasions that more lab technicians be appointed but PK Mishra was not willing to do that,” said Dr Ravindra, President of the Indian Medical Association’s Karnataka chapter. The doctors also demanded that lab technicians, doctors and nurses be hired on a contract basis to ensure that the existing personnel are not overworked and stressed. “The government has been promising that they will hire new people but so far no action has been taken. We called off the protest only after the government agreed to our conditions,” Dr Devi Anand said.
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