Patna, Oct 15 (IANS): Doctors across all government medical colleges and hospitals in Bihar were observing a daylong strike on Tuesday in solidarity with the junior doctors protesting against RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The strike in Bihar, in response to the nationwide call by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), began at 6.00 a.m. on Tuesday and will end at 6.00 p.m. Outpatient departments (OPD) and routine surgeries were suspended for the day. However, emergency services will remain operational.

This strike has disrupted medical services in hospitals across the state, including Patna Medical College and Hospital, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna AIIMS, SKMCH Muzaffarpur, JLN Medical College Bhagalpur, Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Gaya and other medical colleges in Bihar.

Scheduled surgeries and routine treatments have been postponed in these institutions.

The strike was sparked by the grievances of junior doctors at the RG Kar Medical College, who have been protesting for the past 10 days. Their main concern is the lack of justice in a brutal rape and murder case of their colleague on the college campus.

Additionally, the doctors are dissatisfied with the lack of improvements in the hospital's security measures.

The situation surrounding the doctors' strike became grim as the health of junior doctors at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, who have been on hunger strike for the past 10 days, deteriorated.

Several striking doctors have resigned, but their actions have yet to elicit a response from the Mamata government in West Bengal.

In solidarity, the IMA in Bihar has announced that its Junior Doctor Network and Medical Student Network are backing the Kolkata doctors' movement.

The IMA has declared its unwavering support to the striking doctors.