Saturday, July 8 2006 11:25 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Health services at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) returned to near normalcy Saturday after the calling off of the doctors' strike protesting the sacking of its director P.Venugopal.

The doctors ended their three-day strike after the Delhi High Court Friday ordered a stay of action against Venugopal.

As doctors resumed duty, hundreds of patients were seen in front of the Out Patient Department (OPD) and the emergency ward of one of India's most well known hospitals.

"We are happy about the court's order and will work extra to compensate the damage done in the last three days. We can understand the pain of the patients and will continue to serve them," said Anil Sharma, a senior resident doctor at AIIMS.

He added, "We resumed our duty Friday night and some of our resident doctors were taking their usual rounds. But there is a sense of fear among the residents as Health Minister Anmbumani Ramadoss talked about punitive action against striking doctors. Considering the true spirit of his post and the observation of the court, the government should not take any action against any doctor."

P. Venugopal is to resume charge at AIIMS later Saturday.