As Bombay faces a heath crisis scenario after junior doctor strike continues to strike despite the state court and government highly condemning the move. As per the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), a letter was issued to all the doctors protesting to resume to work immediately however, some continue to stay on leave until late Thursday night asking for more time to take a decision.
Doctors in Nagpur and Aurangabad have decided not to resume work immediately. Nearly 4,500 resident doctors at government hospitals have been on strike across Maharashtra since Monday, demanding better security in hospitals. There have been multiple incidents of doctors being harassed by the relatives or family of the patient.
As the agitation extended barriers, the movement is getting support from associations in UP, Delhi, West Bengal and various other states.
Resident doctors from around 40 government hospitals, including Ram Manohar Lohia, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Safdarjung Hospital did not attend. Doctors at AIIMS extended support by wearing helmets at work. On Friday Delhi will witness strike of doctors even from Private hospitals. Sir Ganga Ram hospital on Thursday said, that extending support to the protesting doctors in Maharashtra, their OPD services will not be available on Friday.
Apart from Delhi, even junior doctors from the Guwahati Medical College Hospital extended support to their colleagues in Maharashtra by wearing helmets in the hospital.
“We are getting support from associations in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Even the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin lent its support today,” said Dr. Parthiv Sanghvi, secretary of the Mumbai unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
On Thursday, Fadnavis proposed an apex council of representatives from the state government and doctors for regular interaction every three months to resolve their charter of demands. “We strongly condemn the mindless attack against doctors. My government will proactively work with the doctors to provide more security in their work place and also cater to all their demands that have long been neglected,” he said.
He appealed to the protesting doctors: “The ongoing doctors’ strike is causing a lot of inconvenience to the people. You cannot deprive people of medical attention, especially those who are helpless and battling for life and death.”
