With around 3,000 doctors in the state, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has decided to go on an indefinite “mass bunk” across the state beginning Tuesday.
According to the doctors, MARD has resorted to the agitation after the government failed to meet their six primary demands ranging from an increase in payment to resumption of scholarship for other backward classes (OBC).
MARD decided to go on the “mass bunk” after meeting the directorate of medical education (DMER) and medical education minister yielded no results. MARD general secretary (central) Dr Santosh Wakchaure said, “The DMER director and medical education minister Dr Vijay Kumar Gavit in the meeting flatly refused to meet our demands citing government’s inability. They said that the government couldn’t hike the stipend. It is also non-committal on other demands that do not involve money.”
Currently there are 3,000 resident doctors in the state and their unavailability is likely to affect the functioning of
hospitals. The authorities, on the other hand, said that they made necessary arrangements keeping the “mass bunk” in foresight.
However, the medical education minister maintained that the demands are legitimate. “Apart from agreeing on a few demands, we have assured to fulfil the rest in due course. We proposed a `5,000 hike, to which they disagreed. They should understand that the state is reeling under severe drought and there is paucity of funds. We even told them that we will request the government to increase the stipend further once the situation is better, but they snubbed our suggestion,” said Dr Gavit.
Dr Gavit said that deans of various hospitals have made arrangements for providing emergency services. “We also have enough number of undergraduate doctors to take care of patients. The functioning of hospitals will not be affected,” he added further.