The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday toughened its stand against striking doctors in its service, issuing an ultimatum to them to join work by Friday failing which their posts will be declared vacant.
Doctors under the banner Federation of Government Doctors' Association have been on the indefinte strike since October 25 pressing their charter of demands which included time bound promotions and ensuring appropriate patient-doctor ratio in hospitals.
On Thursday, Chief Minister K Palaniswami made it clear these doctors were paid to serve the poor and asserted the government will not remain a mute witness if the people were affected.
"Poor people come to government hospitals...and many are affected (due to the strike).. those refusing to serve these poor people-- the government will not remain mute witness to that," he told reporters in Salem.
He said only those from "unrecognised" associations were staging the protest and that too with an aim of "bringing disrepute to the government."
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