Resident doctor's strike enters third day

Resident doctors across Maharashtra, barring those from Nagpur Medical college, continued their indefinite strike for the third day today despite government assurances to resolve their grievances.

Patients faced difficulties, although the doctors claimed that they were taking care of the out patients in the premises of the hospitals.

"The strike will continue till our demands are met, especially on immediate increase in the stipend on par with the Central Residency Scheme, which is adopted by many states," Maharashtra Association of Resident doctors (MARD)'s secretary, Dr Anil Dudhabhate said.

The Maharashtra government appealed to the resident doctors in the state yesterday, to withdraw their indefinite strike and to help tackle possible spurt of diseases during monsoons.

Principal secretary of Medical Education, Bhushan Gagrani said the government assured them of resolving their grievances, which however, MARD refuses to accept.

"We want government to give in writing their assurances and not through media and also implement the demands with immediate effect," Dudhabhate said.

The doctors are demanding that their stipend be increased by implementing the Central Residency Scheme. However, this demand cannot be met immediately, Gagrani said.

Gagarani said only the reasonable demands of the resident doctors can be taken into consideration.

Doctors across the state went on indefinite strike since Tuesday night, demanding higher stipend, better living conditions and enhancement of security among other things.

"The resident doctors working in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and other northern states are given a stipend of between Rs 35,000 and Rs 45,000 per month for eight hours of daily work," Dudhabhate said.

However, Gagrani said only the AIIMS and Tata Hospital have accepted the Central Residency Scheme in the state. Other medical colleges were paying between Rs 6,000 and Rs 25,000 as stipend, he said.

The state government is also checking the legal aspect of the Court order about the strike which has become a yearly affair and whether it can be implemented across the state, sources from medical education department said.

On the security and living conditions of resident doctors, the government repeated its promises and said it is making arrangements for providing them more security and better living conditions.

The medical education minister, health minister and finance minister are expected to meet soon to discus increase in stipend for resident doctors, Gagrani said.

Meanwhile, senior doctors who had to bear the load of the resident doctors for indoor patients expected a breakthrough in the issue at the earliest.