PATNA, Sept. 19 -- The two-day strike by junior resident doctors in Bihar ended on Thursday evening after the state health department pressed for strict action against the medicos while simultaneously agreeing to "consider sympathetically" their demand on reducing the duration of post-graduate (PG) bond posting. "After several discussions with the striking PG students over the day, we were able to convince them to call off their strike," said Dr IS Thakur, medical superintendent of Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH). The strike had paralysed non-emergency services at PMCH, Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) and Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH), disrupting OPD, IPD, and elective surgeries. Only emergency care continued. Earlier in the day, resident doctors at PMCH threatened to intensify their stir over a six-point charter of demands. By 6 pm, however, Junior Doctors' Association (JDA) of PMCH informed health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh that they were calling off the strike. The turnaround came after the health department reminded the medicos of a Patna HC order prohibiting strikes and sought names of doctors who abstained from duty. College administrators, acting on directions from the health secretary, warned that the government was prepared to press charges and even approach the National Medical Commission (NMC) for cancellation of registrations if the agitation continued. "We told the striking students that while the government was sympathetic to their demand for reducing the PG bond posting from three years to two years, it would not hesitate to act firmly if they did not relent," Dr Thakur said. The doctors are seeking reduction of the PG bond posting period from three years to one year, with penalty halved to Rs.10 lakh for non-compliance....