Ao Senden healthcare dispute in Nagaland

The Ao Senden organization is engaged in a dispute with the Nagaland Department of Health and Family Welfare over critical staffing shortages and facility issues at Imkongliba Memorial District Hospital (IMDH) in Mokokchung.

The conflict intensified following the transfer of a senior specialist radiologist from IMDH to Kohima. Although the department provided a sonologist and a junior specialist from Phek, the Ao Senden rejected these measures, stating “nothing short of a Radiodiagnosis Specialist will be accepted at IMDH.” The group criticized the department’s response as a “theatre of superiority instead of service to the needy.”

By late October, the organization escalated its agitation, setting an October 31 deadline for the government to fulfill its demands. These demands include the immediate stationing of a radiologist, the reversion of doctors and nurses to their original IMDH postings, and the relocation of hospital services to the newly constructed Block A. As part of its protest, the group has maintained an indefinite lockdown of the Chief Medical Officer’s office in Mokokchung.