The two-day strike of government doctors from January 15 to press for their several demands, including wage hike, would cripple the healthcare service in the state-run hospitals.

Dr Ranjit Kumar, the secretary-cum-spokesperson of the Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA), said: “Increment in the salary of doctors of the government hospitals across the state is one of our main demands.”

The general secretary of the BHSA, Dr Ajay Kumar, said: “We have been demanding adequate manpower in the hospitals for a long time but the state government has not taken our demands seriously. So we have decided to go on a two-day strike.”