Being unable to get the hospital authority to pay their arrears by staging a three-day work abstention programme, doctors, nurses and other employees of Thakurgaon Swasthoseba Hospital (Diabetic Hospital) called an indefinite strike there yesterday.
In the afternoon yesterday, Dr Nur Alam Mandal, spokesperson for the employees of the hospital, confirmed the strike, which was supposed to start from today.
Due to the work abstention, the hospital services had virtually stopped and the patients in the district as well as nearby Panchagarh have been suffering massively.
Sources said there is a total of 126 staff members at the hospital, and they have been unpaid for last nine months. On Thursday, the employees went on a three-day work abstention, demanding their arrears and allowances.
When contacted, the agitating staff blamed the authorities concerned for the deadlock, saying they were forced to call the strike as the situation had finally become unbearable.
Ekramul Hoque Swapan, executive director of the hospital, said he was trying his best to solve the crisis by contacting the higher authorities.
Mukes Biswas, Thakurgaon Deputy Commissioner, said the ongoing impasse was an internal hospital matter that the authorities would solve.
