BANGALORE: With Section 144 having been applied by Bangalore City Police in the area of one kilometre radius around the Department of Health and Family Welfare near Anand Rao Circle, which has the Commissioner’s office, protesting government doctors on Monday decided to march till one kilometre short of the Commissioner’s office and then break into groups of five to hand in their resignations.
More than 1,500 government doctors from all over the State gathered at the location displaying their resignations at Anand Rao Circle even as their leaders told them that they were not under any compulsion to resign.
The protesting government doctors have been protesting against lack of wage revisions, a deadlock over longpending demands and a “misinformation” campaign against them for the past two days. The doctors, from all over the State, have now decided to resign en masse in Bangalore.
Since Section 144 was imposed at Arogya Bhavan, Magadi Road, the venue for the Genereal Body Meeting, which was to be held there by the doctors, has been shifted to Freedom Park.
There was heavy police security around the Department of of Health and Family Welfare near Anand Rao Circle, where at least five buses from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) were parked for transportation of doctors in case they violated prohibitory orders.
At Freedom Park, as doctors from all parts of the State were coming in to Bangalore to participate in the protest, for their convenience, a pre-formatted resignation letter was kept ready for them. Doctors who had not brought their resignations with them could sign the ready formatted letter and hand in their resignation letters.
Sandeep Patil, DCP in charge of the police security, appealed to the protesting doctors to ensure that law and order was maintained. The protesters have communicated to him that since they are doctors themselves, they are aware of the need not to disturb the law and order situation.
Meanwhile, Minister of Health U. T. Khader and Minister for Medical Education Sharan Prakash Patil, have convened a meeting of District Health Officers (DHOs) and Programme Officers to talk about alternatives to deal with the en masse resignations. The government medical officers were called to the same meeting but they did not attend it.
