Itanagar: Hospitals across Arunachal Pradesh reopened Friday evening after doctors and nurses called off their 48-hour shutdown following assurances from the state government to address safety concerns and meet their demands.
The decision came after a meeting at the civil secretariat where Health Minister Biyuram Wahge and Home Minister Mama Natung assured medical representatives that their grievances would be taken up urgently.
The ministers also announced a mass meeting with healthcare staff at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) on Saturday morning to build further confidence.
“Based on these assurances, the medical fraternity decided to withdraw the shutdown with immediate effect,” the meeting minutes stated.
However, the associations said they would closely monitor the government’s actions and resume protests if commitments were not honoured.
The shutdown, which began Thursday evening, had paralysed medical services across the state, with only emergency care remaining functional.
Families with children and elderly patients queued outside hospitals, while many were forced to travel long distances in search of treatment.
Routine consultations, diagnostics, and non-emergency care were suspended, leaving thousands without access to healthcare.
The strike was triggered by the assault on two senior resident doctors at TRIHMS on Thursday.
Police said a 28-year-old man, reportedly unhappy with the treatment given to a patient he knew, attacked Dr. Arvind Pusha, a paediatric resident, with an iron rod before repeatedly punching and kicking him.
When fellow doctor Dr. Tam Tariang tried to intervene, he too was brutally assaulted. Both doctors remain under treatment at TRIHMS, while the assailant has been arrested.
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In response, the TRIHMS Faculty Association, along with the Arunachal Pradesh branches of the Indian Medical Association, the Arunachal Pradesh Doctors’ Association, and the Trained Nurses’ Association of India, announced the 48-hour closure of medical services and demanded permanent security arrangements at hospitals, as well as additional nursing staff.
“We do not want to strike, but the circumstances have forced us. We are saddened and fearful,” said Dr. Rinchin Dorjee Megeji, senior cardiologist and president of the TRIHMS Faculty Association.
The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) had earlier appealed to doctors to call off the shutdown, warning that any loss of life due to disrupted services would be the responsibility of the striking staff.
The union urged both the government and the medical community to engage in urgent dialogue to avoid a full-blown healthcare crisis.
