Junior doctors at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Andhra Pradesh’s Ongole staged demonstrations against the state government on Sunday as part of their continuing protests demanding a permanent registration from the Medical Council of India (MCI).

The agitated doctors also met the Prakasam district Collector V Vinay Chand to highlight their plight.

“We will have no option but to refuse emergency cases which they are attending to now if the government turns a deaf ear to their pleas,'' Junior Doctors’ Association president B Sriharsha told The Hindu on Sunday.

The temporary registration by the MCI will expire in a month’s time and without the permanent registration, the doctors cannot pursue further education or continue practicing legally.

The students have been on protest since Saturday, asking the state government to intervene and consult with the Centre to grant MCI registration to the college.

On three previous occasions earlier, the MCI inspection committees had denied permanent recognition. The reasons included the library which had 6,800 books instead of 7,000, a dysfunctional fifth X-ray unit and the presence of a window at one of the X-ray rooms of the hospital, reported Hans India.

However, the college authorities, after addressing these three issues, had asked for a re-evaluation from the MCI but they are yet to get a reply from them.