Bihar Health Services Association (BHSA) has decided to support the June 25 strike call by Indian Medical Association (IMA) and suspend outdoor services in all government and private hospitals, nursing homes and dispensaries on that day and join the protest.

In a joint news meet of the BHSA and IMA in Patna on Friday, senior office bearers of the associations said the strike was meant to oppose several proposals of the Union and the state governments.

“Various policies and bills proposed by the Centre and the state governments are against the interest of medical professionals and we will fight against them till the end. We are trying to send out a message to the policymakers. Emergency services at the hospitals, however, will not be affected,” said BHSA general secretary Dr Ajay Kumar.

The BHSA, however, has decided to defer the strike scheduled on July 5 in the wake of a large number of acute encephalitis syndrome cases in the state.

As a precursor to the June 25 strike, the doctors have also planned to stage demonstrations in various districts to voice their demand for the withdrawal of proposal like constitution of National Commission of Human Resource for Health (NCHRH) in place of Medical Council of India and national and state clinical establishment acts.

The associations are also opposed to the proposed National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test — a national-level competitive examination for admission into all medical colleges of the country.

The Centre’s move to introduce a test for all MBBS passouts before they are given registration numbers as doctors has also irked medical professionals across the country.