On Thursday, patients were forced to look for alternative arrangements in the state-run medical colleges of Kanpur, Allahabad, Gorakhpur, Meerut and Agra. The situation was worse in Kanpur, Gorakhpur and Allahabad, which also cater to a large number of patients from the adjoining districts.

In Gorakhpur, over 30 children suffering from encephalitis, admitted in the pediatric department of BRD Medical College, were lying unattended. Dr K P Kushwaha, head of the pediatric department, said: “We are trying to manage with the help of some senior doctors. But it is difficult as we get a large number of patients from adjoining districts like Kushinagar, Maharajganj, Sidharthnagar, Mau, Azamgarh and Basti. We even get patients from Bihar’s Siwan and Chappra districts. We also do not have the required number of nurses.”

Following instructions by hospital administrations in Kanpur and Allahabad, resident doctors, meanwhile, have vacated their hostels.

Sources in Kanpur’s Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College said a notice was put up in the hostels around 7 am on Thursday, asking the striking doctors to vacate their rooms within six hours. “Even girls have been asked to vacate their hostels. But we will continue with the strike till our demands our met,” said a doctor. He added, “We have heard the state government is planning to order the suspension of the striking doctors. If this happens, we will all opt for mass resignations.”

In Allahabad, emergency, medicine and surgical wards at the Moti Lal Nehru Medical College remained empty as indoor patients too left for other hospitals.

“On the request of the authorities, we had once postponed our agitation a few months ago. But this time, we will take up the agitation to its very end,” said a junior doctor.

Dr PC Saxena, principal of the college, said: “The strike is illegal in the wake of the High Court judgment which is still in force. Their demands would be heard only after they end the strike.”