The Bombay High Court once again rapped the 4,500-odd striking resident doctors on Thursday, directing them to resume work, saying that the state government has been told to immediately provide security to them
Resident doctors protest outside KEM hospital in Parel on Thursday. Pics/Shadab Khan
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The Bombay High Court once again rapped the 4,500-odd striking resident doctors on Thursday, directing them to resume work, saying that the state government has been told to immediately provide security to them. The doctors, however, are in no mood to relent, not until they receive the court order themselves as well as firm assurance and action by the state to put an end to assaults on them.
The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) filed an affidavit in the HC on Thursday, saying its members were ready to work and only needed a surety from the government and administration that they would be provided security; later in the evening, it issued an official request to its members to resume work immediately. It now depends on the doctors if they choose to ignore or acquiesce. The state, meanwhile, told the court that it was ready with 1,100 armed guards, 500 of which would be pressed into service by April 5, with Rs 33 crore sanctioned for this recruitment.
A patient waits outside Sion hospital on Thursday
But in the absence of any assurance in writing, including the court order, the mass bunk of residents doctors continued, entering the fourth day of protest, postponing more than 1,200 surgeries in KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper hospitals. The agitation has spread to Delhi as well with more than 20,000 resident doctors in 40 hospitals going on mass casual leave.
Sticking together
"Mass bunking will continue until we receive the written court order and the minutes of discussion between the chief minister and the resident doctors and the IMA. Only after that we will decide the future course of action," said Dr Sagar Mundada, chairman of the youth wing of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has declared that resident doctors will be treated like government servants; i.e. in the future, if they get hurt on duty, all expenses of their treatment as well as the legal issues arising will be borne by the state. It has been proposed to set up an apex council with representatives of the government and doctors to discuss this.
Due to the manpower crunch, senior doctors and nurses are bearing the burden. Maharashtra Nursing Council president Ramling Mali said, "With thousands of resident doctors not working, nurses have to provide additional support to help the emergency patients and wards. The workload has increased by 60 per cent since the start of the strike."
If sources are to be believed, the doctors, in a meeting held at KEM hospital, decided that if their demands aren't met, they would submit mass resignation.
However, dean of KEM hospital and director of major hospitals Dr Avinash Supe said 105 resident doctors across KEM, Sion and Nair hospitals had resumed, while dean of JJ hospital Dr TP Lahane said 92 were working.
Court says
Advocate general Rohit Deo told the bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice Girish Kulkarni that after the deployment of the first 500 guards, the rest 600 would be deployed by April 30 for the rest of Maharashtra.
"The state will also make sure that only two relatives per patient are allowed inside hospitals. Doctors must resume work immediately; they can't take the judicial process for a ride," he added.
Chief justice Chellur said, "The doctors should immediately resume work; they should not act like trade unions. Your profession is sacred... imagine the helplessness of patients."
"No doctor should be ill-treated and no punitive action should be taken against any after s/he resumes work," she added, addressing the state.
The court went one step ahead and said a committee needs to be set up of MARD, state government and BMC representatives to solve doctors' problems. "Their working conditions are horrible; we will be hearing the matter on a fortnightly basis from now on to monitor the situation. Only two people should be allowed with a patient from today onwards," said chief justice Chellur. She kept the matter for hearing on April 6 and made it clear that if the doctors don't resume work, they would face action for contempt of court.
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