From correspondents in Orissa, India, 12:00 AM IST

Orissa government doctors Saturday night decided not to go on strike from Nov 9 after the state government assured of considering their demands within three months.

Around 3,000 government doctors had submitted their resignations Monday to protest the dismissal of three doctors and threatened not to join work from Sunday if the orders were not withdrawn.

The doctors were protesting the dismissal of Bibek Swain, an anaesthesiologist, Santanu Sahu, a surgeon, and Anup Nath Sharma, an orthopaedic specialist, for allegedly cutting off the palms of five tribals while performing autopsies on their bodies in 2006.

The state government Friday invoked the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) against the doctors.

'We decided to withdraw the protest after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik assured us that the government will consider our demands within three months,' an office bearer of the Orissa Medical Service Association (OMSA) told IANS.

ESMA is a central act which prohibits strikes in certain jobs and violations of it can lead to imprisonment and penalties. The act empowers the government to arrest the violator without warrant.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)