After over 10 days of protests, MARD calls off strike

The doctors in parts of the country protested against the Kolkata rape and murder case. File Pic/PTI

After more than 10 days of demonstrations and a strike demanding better workplace conditions in the wake of the Kolkata rape and murder case of a trainee doctor, resident doctors withdrew their agitation on Thursday and are to resume regular work today.

The decision to call off the strike came after a meeting was held between Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

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Soon after, the chief minister's office announced a comprehensive review of the safety of resident doctors at government and city medical college hospitals the strike was called off.

Some of the measures to be taken include arrangement of rented buildings at state and BMC level to serve as hostels and a reassessment of security at government medical college-hospital complexes. The police department is directed to provide training for security personnel.

A uniform procedure for the safety of medical officers across the state was also decided at the meeting. This includes managing crowds of relatives at hospitals, strict adherence to visiting hours, and posting notices within the premises warning legal actions for attacks on medical officers and health staff. It was also discussed to amend the state's 2010 law concerning attacks on medical officers and to pursue the implementation of a central protection law with the Centre.

"As a tribute to our fallen sister in Kolkata, Central MARD urges all resident doctors of Maharashtra to donate blood tomorrow, following which all resident doctors would resume duties tomorrow," said a MARD representative.

The strike had also caused inconvenience to the patients, earlier mid-day flagged how patients at public hospital were being told by the resident doctors that the strike might impact their treatment.