A junior doctor examines a patient on the Patna Medical College and Hospital campus on Tuesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Junior doctors of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), on strike for the past six days, ran a parallel outpatient department on the hospital premises for the second consecutive day on Tuesday and treated close to 250 patients.

The junior doctors at the health hub have been on strike since June 14, following a brawl with attendants of a patient suffering from acute encephalitis syndrome.

One of the junior doctors was thrashed by the angry relatives of the patient who died on June 13 after which the medics allegedly roughed up hospital superintendent Dr O.P. Chaudhary when the latter tried to intervene in the matter.

The doctors have been demanding removal of Chaudhary and upgrade of security arrangements at the hospital ever since. They have also been insisting that only two attendants per patient be allowed in the hospital.

In a meeting with the medics on Monday, principal secretary (health) Vyasji pro-mised improved security arr-angements in the hospital but remained non-committal on the removal of Chaudhary from the post.

As a result, junior medics refused to call off the strike, the longest by PG doctors in the past two-and-a-half years.

The medics are now waiting for the report of the three-member committee that was formed by the health department to look into the complaints made by Chaudhary against the students.

“The charges framed by the hospital superintendent are totally baseless and are aimed at covering up his own administrative failure. The committee, headed by principal Dr N.P. Yadav is expected to submit its report by Wednesday evening. We will decide our next step based on the findings of the report. If any of our colleagues is wrongly implicated, the strike could spread to other medical colleges of the state as well,” said Dr Rakesh Kumar, president, PMCH Junior Doctors’ Association.