Resident doctors go on strike in Maharashtra

Hundreds of resident doctors serving at the state governmentrun hospitals in Maharashtra went on strike on Thursday over demands including a hike in stipend reported news agency PTIEmergency services will not be affected by the strike said the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors MARD while deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar made a fresh appeal to the doctors not to press with the agitation reported PTIResident doctors go on strike The demandsThe doctors demands included immediate grant of funds needed for construction and repairs of hostels regularisation of stipend payments with release of pending stipend and arrears and a Rs 10000 stipend hikeAfter MARD called for a strike earlier this month Pawar and Medical Education minister Hasan Mushrif had assured that the demands will be metWe kept our faith in the governments word and called off our strike multiple times previously despite the distressing situation of resident doctors Benefit of doubt was always given to the authority and we trusted them to do the right thing in a timely mannerHowever regardless of our innumerable pleas it seems our genuine concerns have fallen on deaf ears MARD said in a statement reported PTIIn a fresh appeal on Thursday Pawar said the government had assured the doctors that the issue will be resolved after a proposal is placed before the cabinet and passed in the state budget reported PTIMARD meanwhile said it will hold another round of meetings with the governments representatives on FridayResident doctors go on strike Previous strikeEarlier on February 7 the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors MARD decided not to go ahead with their strike after a meeting with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who agreed to their demands reported the PTIMARD representatives had a meeting with Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif Pawar and officials of the Medical Education and Drugs Department as per the PTIThe Maharashtra government has also agreed to release the monthly payment of stipend henceforth and directed the finance department to release the exact amount of requested funds every month the MARD saidThe resident doctors had also demanded immediate grant of necessary funds and fasttracking of all the PWD public welfare department work across the state to ensure completion of repairs of existing hostels and initiation of construction of new hostel premisesMARD had also demanded that arrangements be made to lease out buildings as a temporary substitute for hostels until new infrastructure is builtWith inputs from PTI