Resident Doctor’s Suicide Sparks Strike and Service Shutdown at AIIMS Jodhpur

A resident doctor’s suicide at AIIMS Jodhpur has triggered a campus‑wide strike that has forced the outpatient department to stay closed and has disrupted emergency care. The doctor, identified as Raj Naresh Yadav, was a postgraduate who had completed his MBBS at the same institute. He left for lunch on September 23 and did not return; colleagues found his phone ringing from a washroom whose door had been forced open, after which his family was notified of his death. In response, resident doctors set up a sit‑in outside the OPD, refusing to work until a list of demands is met. Their demands include a public apology from the administration, financial help for Yadav’s family, the resignation of the Executive Director, and the creation of a Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA). The administration has agreed to form the RDA but talks on the other points have stalled. AIIMS director Govardhan Puri went to the protest area on the third day of the strike, tried to converse with the doctors and made a humble appeal, but the doctors stayed firm and he left the site. On Wednesday, management committee representatives met the doctors, but the discussion did not resolve the dispute, leading to a candle‑light march on campus. Barmer MP Ummeda Ram Beniwal warned that the indefinite strike has crippled emergency and OPD services, causing hardship for patients and their families, and urged Union Health Minister J P Nadda to intervene. The protest continues as doctors await a satisfactory response.