Over 3000 members of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) across the state will go on mass leave from April 23. MARD members told SMD that the mass bunking is in protest of the government apathy towards genuine demands from resident doctors of BMC and state-run hospitals.

According to MARD sources, despite many meetings regarding bond service (where doctors have to work in rural areas for one year after graduating) and revised stipends, all that they received from state government officials were verbal or written assurances that were never implemented. Resident doctors from 14 medical colleges across the state are taking part in this protest.