PATNA, July 8 -- Junior doctors at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) on Wednesday evening called off their day-long strike over workplace safety concerns following talks with Bihar health secretary Kumar Ravi.

The strike severely disrupted outpatient services, with only 154 patients registering at the OPD against the usual 2,800-3,000 on a weekday. However, the junior doctors continued to attend emergency and intensive care unit (ICU) duties.

During the meeting, the junior doctors raised concerns over their safety at the workplace arguing that they could not be expected to protect patients if their own security was at risk. They also raised the issue of increasing the stipend of resident doctors.

The agitation came a day af...