Resident doctors at the Moti Lal Nehru hospital in Allahabad are still on indefinite strike in protest against the rape and murder of their colleague at the RG Kar Medical College in Calcutta on August 9.
The continuing strike is showing its telling affect on thousands of patients.
An estimated 10, 000 patients went back during the past ten days as the doctors were not on duty.
Outside the windows which witnessed long queues of patients and attendants, one finds dogs loitering around or sleeping.
No body is seen sitting on benches. Most of the wards do not have a single patient. Only a few old patients could be seen in a few wards.
The worst affected are the patients who come to the SRN hospital under this medical college for treatment from neighbouring small districts.
This includes patients from bordering Madhya Pradesh districts where medical facilities are poor in comparison to Allahabad.
As a result of this rush in private nursing homes has increased manifold. This despite the fact that the cost of treatment at private nursing homes is very high and not within the reach of the common man, leave aside the poor who cannot even think of even entering such a place of treatment.
However, the chief superintendent of SRN hospital Dr Ajay Saxena says, we are still treating the older patients properly.
On the other hand despite the current crisis, private nursing homes have reportedly increased their charges instead of lowering them.