09 August,2014 07:54 AM IST | | Anuradha Varanasi
Nearly 4,000 members of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors have declared an indefinite mass bunk; say government has not paid heed to their demands for transparency in seat allocation for mandatory bond service
Nearly 4,000 resident doctors across Maharashtra will go on an indefinite strike starting today, with the government having failed, yet again, to meet some of their demands regarding the mandatory one-year bond service.
Doctors from 14 government colleges and three corporation hospitals will take part in this âmass bunk'. This includes state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla. File pic
Doctors from 14 government medical colleges, who are registered with the central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), will take part in this âmass bunk'. This includes state-run JJ Hospital in Byculla. Resident doctors of civic-run hospitals like KEM, Sion and Nair Hospitals will also wage a âmass-bunk'.
Some of the demands that were not met include the implementation of proper bond service strategies like the time period, and transparency during seat allocation. The resident doctors also say that they should be allotted to specialty departments that are in keeping with their professional expertise, for their bond service.
Dr Harshal Panshewdikar, general secretary of central MARD, said, "We put forward five demands to the government earlier, and in spite of regular follow-ups with them, we've been given no proper assurance that they will be met. Hence, we have decided to go on an indefinite mass-bunk."
MARD also demanded that the medical education department create posts of senior resident (SR) for non-clinical and para-clinical branches. "The SR post should be considered in our bond service and we should also be given teaching experience for that," added Dr Panshewdikar. Central MARD also demanded that specialty medical officers' posts be created in all branches.
"Residents from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST), who were to be granted freeships by the government, have been paying their residency fees just like other resident doctors, for the past three years," said Dr Santosh Wakchoure, president of central MARD. "We are demanding that their fees should be sanctioned by the government," he added.
In Mumbai, resident doctors from major civic-run hospitals like Sion, Nair and KEM hospitals will participate in the indefinite strike, something that is sure to affect the treatment of thousands of patients admitted, as well as those who visit the out-patient departments.
Dr Avinash Supe, dean of Sion Hospital, said, "We are going to ask our assistant medical officers to handle emergency cases, but due to the ongoing strike, we'll have to postpone all routine surgeries over the weekend. However, we will attend to patients in the casualty."
Dr Nitin Bavadekar, medical superintendent of JJ Hospital, said that lecturers and other senior doctors will attend to patients during the strike. "Doctors and AMOs will be able to conduct surgeries and we're hoping we won't have to postpone many routine operations," he said.
