Andulu was brought to the Gandhi Hospital here from Bonthapally in Medak district but was refused treatment. Dharmendra Kumar, 17, who was referred from Warangal government hospital with an infected leg had to wait for hours for treatment at Gandhi Hospital and was finally told to come to the OPD on Saturday. Patients flocking to government hospitals for emergency care will not get it after 5 pm on Friday as part of the junior doctors’ protest.

“They are saying that doctors are on strike and thus we might have to take our patient to some other hospital, but we cannot afford to do so. Whatever happens, we shall keep our patient only here,” said the relatives of a woman brought in a critical state. The only doctor present in the ward on Friday was hopeful that soon more help would be sent to her. One of the staff members in the emergency ward of Osmania General Hospital said that junior doctors are the lifeline of emergency wards all over the state.

The role they play is evident at times when they go on strike to press for long-pending demands. Meanwhile, the Junior Doctors’ Association has made it clear that even invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act, or arrests, cannot force them to withdraw their strike. Dr G. Aditya from JDA said the cold response of the government to their demands has forced them to intensify the stir.

The new medical and health minister Kondru Murali Mohan said the government was not afraid of the threats being issued by junior doctors and that talks won’t be held until they withdraw the strike.