Hyderabad: Junior doctors from Osmania Medical College (OMC) on Saturday temporarily called-off their strike, after the superintendent of Osmania General Hospital (OGH) passed orders to set-up ad-hoc operation theatres in a GHMC shelter home on or before 19 September. The strike was called-off by the Osmania Telangana Junior Doctors Association (OTJDA) after a meeting was held between both sides to resolve the issue at hand.
The association began its strike on September 9 after repeated requests to the OGH administration with regard to setting-up new operation theatres after the main building, which is a heritage structure, was shut down on July 22 after it was flooded by rain water. On Saturday, Dr. B. Nagender, OGH superintendent, passed orders detailing the various arrangements agreed upon to by both sides.
The strike by the began after there was no action from the OGH administration with regard to getting dedicated spaces for elective surgeries. The issue was a result of the main building being shut, as it is a huge place, and could accommodate various rooms and operation theatres in it. With the state government deciding to keep it shut, there is a space crunch, as everything has been shifted to the Quli Qutb Shah block, which has been hit by one problem after another.
“We, the Osmania Telangana Junior Doctors Association, after giving strike notice and calling for elective boycott of services from 9-09-2020, after deliberations with Respected Superintendent of OGH, Dr. Nagender sir as of today morning on 12-09-2020 have been issued written assurances which have addressed our demands of Elective Operation Theatres, Post- Operative wards, General Wards and Emergency wards+ OT’s with a stipulated time period of assurance being given as 19-09-2020,” said a statement from the OTJDA.
The association, in its letter on Saturday, added that while they have decided to call-off their strike for now, they will one again resume it if the OGH admin fails to meet their demands.
It may be noted here that the old building, which was shut on the premise that it is unstable and unsafe (after getting flooded by rain water, due to which it has been shut), has not seen even a drop of water enter the building all through August and September. The flooding in July was a result of a sewer line, that passes under OGH, getting blocked.
A senior OGH official, who did not want to be quoted, said that a request was also placed to higher-ups to reopen the old building, but to no avail. “They think it is unsafe, and don’t want to take any chances. The Quli Qutb Shah block has several problems, and they have asked us to adjust, or else shift patients to the Petlaburj Govt. Hospital,” the official informed.
History of OGH
OGH was completed in 1925 after Hyderabad was affected by the bubonic plague around 1911. The city administration then took care of the issue, following which the then Nizam Osman Ali Khan (1911-48) set up the City Improvement Board (CIB) in 1912 to improve Hyderabad’s infrastructure. It was designed by architect Vincent Esch, who also designed the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.
The OGH’s old building (along with others like High Court and City College) is an excellent example of the Osmanian style or Indo Saracenic genre of architecture. It is an integral part of Hyderabad’s 20th-century riverscape and skyline. The CIB during the reign of Osman Ali Khan had transformed the medieval city into a modern metropolis, complete with infrastructures like the High Court, railway stations, schools and OGH.