Angul, Nov. 21: All private pathology laboratories in the district have been shut down in support of their demand for relaxation of the registration rules.

Yesterday, hundreds of technicians and owners of 160 private laboratories in the district, under the banner of the Angul District Pathology Service Association, closed their units and began an indefinite dharna in front of the district collectorate.

Many patients belonging not only to Angul, but also to the adjoining districts of Dhenkanal, Boudh and Keonjhar are suffering due to the lack of diagnostic facilities. Only the government hospital-run path lab is functioning.

“I had to get my wife’s blood sample tested as she is suffering from fever. But, it could not be done due to the shutdown of all the private laboratories in the town. When I went to the government hospital after 1pm, they told me that their lab was closed for the day,” said resident Rudra Nath Pradhan.

An association leader said they had to resort to the shutdown to protest against the district medical authorities’ crackdown on them and asking for registration.

“Despite our efforts, we cannot register our lab, because there is an acute scarcity of pathologists in the state, particularly in Angul. The government rule states that the registration of a pathology laboratory can be made only in the name of a pathologist. We have been demanding that since there is a scarcity of pathologists, we should be allowed to register it in the name of an MBBS doctor as well,” said association secretary Braja Bandhu Biswal.

He said the government was in no mood to relax the rule and the private laboratories across the district would face closure due to such practice.

“If need be, we will carry on with our dharna and hunger strike till the state government meets our demand,” he said.

Chief district medical officer Bidhyadhar Sahu said: “We have no role to play in it. It is the government to take a decision on their demand. On many occasions, the state government had turned down our proposal to get the registration done in the name of an MBBS doctor.”