DHARAN: Fourteen more doctors, working in the emergency ward of the BP Koirala Institutes of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), today resigned en masse. Seven had quit yesterday, citing non-fulfilment of their four-point charter of demands. All of them were working on a contract basis.

"We are seeking safety and security, adequate medics in the emergency ward, salary hike and reevaluation of our contract," said Tejendra Karki, one of the disgruntled doctors. He alleged that the hospital authorities did not implement the past accords.

"We handed our resignation to Dr BP Das, director, BPKIHS," he added. Tejendra Karki, Madhav Dev, Dipak Bhandary, Pranilman Singha Pradhan, Pragya Pradhan, Priyadarshi Adarsha, Jyoti Adhikary, Nidhi Sodhiya, Punam Moda, Poojan Kumar Rokaya, Kubal Shrestha, Rakshya Joshi, Yojan Trikhatri, Abhishek Chaudhary, Raj Kumar Singh, Tara Manandhar, Pugendra Limbu, Parul Ghimire and Pradip Katwal are the ones who quit.

The doctors said they would not take back their resignation letters unless their demands were met. They are not serving their month-long notice period. The doctors have been demanding adequate security cover for the past 15 days.

Dr Das maintained that plans were afoot for new hires in the emergency ward but urged the disgruntled doctors to come for talks. "We haven’t accepted their resignation but in case they refused to negotiate, we'll manage somehow for the next few days," he added.

Gyanendra Malla, in-charge, emergency ward, too, pleaded with the doctors to withdraw their resignation. "Though the emergency ward requires at least 35 doctors, the current strength is only 19. Add to that 14 left today. The situation is, indeed, precarious," said Nanda Kumar Thapa, registrar, BPKIHS.