As their strike entered the third day, resident doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), protesting the move for the removal of their Director P Venugopal, started a parallel OPD today."We do not want the patients to suffer because of the strike so we decided to run a parallel OPD," senior resident doctor Anand Mishra said."We are providing them with medicines and consultation," he said.Seeking the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the issue, Mishra said "it is upto the government to decide and we will continue the strike till then.""Health Minister Ramadoss has brought us to this situation. Now, the PM should intervene to sort out the matter," he said.Mishra also alleged that last night police did not allow them to put up tents at the central lawns in AIIMS which had resulted in a tussle between them.Meanwhile, medical services inside the hospital continued to remain crippled due to the strike after the institute's high-powered governing body made a recommendation to the government seeking the dismissal of its director P Venugopal."No doctors have turned up to the OPD and emergency and casualty services continue to be suspended," said Dr Shakti Kumar Gupta, Medical Suprinetendent, AIIMS.
