After paramedical personnel went on strike yesterday, today it is the turn of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and interns.

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Nearly 1,000 outdoor patients were turned down after paramedical staff from peripheral public hospitals went on strike on Thursday. The strike came a week after the paramedical staff at Sion hospital decided to go on strike, resulting in cancellation of 125 operations which affected nearly 400 OPD patients.

“We had no option but to shut the OPDs. The operations were postponed,” said a doctor from Bhabha hospital.

The protest began at 7.30am and was called off at 3pm. Ashok Jadhav, union member, said, “We had demanded the continuity of paramedical staff on contract. The contract ended on February 1 and the authorities have yet to take a decision. Also there is a vacancy for 2,500 paramedical personnel. We are overburdened. How will we deliver proper service to people?”

Dr Seema Mallik from a peripheral hospital said, “I don’t know why they went on strike as we have given a go-ahead for continuity of the contract.”

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Association Resident Doctors (MARD) and interns are going on token strike on Friday. While medical college interns are demanding a hike in their monthly stipend along the lines of those received by interns in other states, resident doctors want to highlight the failure by the government to implement the Doctor Protection Act and are demanding a reduction in fees for post-graduation courses in the state.

Dhaval Shah, Mumbai coordinator, Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) said, “We are working over 20 hours every day and run the OPDs of public hospitals. After doing so much work, we are getting paid only Rs2,550. Even the sweepers get paid more. We want the government to look into the matter as other states have already taken care of this.”

Resident doctors across the state have decided to go on a day’s strike on March 25. MARD, which has around 3,500 members, wants the authorities to reduce the fees for post-graduation courses in the state.

“We are upset with the government’s decision to increase the fees of post-graduation courses. Many doctors come from poor backgrounds and it becomes difficult for them to pay the fees,” said Dr Pankaj Nalawde in KEM Hospital and president of MARD.

“We also want authorities to provide security for medical personnel as doctors are targeted frequently by disgruntled relatives of patients. We will also demand health insurance for resident doctors,” he said, adding that more than 5,000 interns will be supporting the strike.

“We will not let the OPDs get affected. This is just a token strike. But if the authorities don’t look into the matter, we will be forced to go on indefinite strike,” said Dr Nalawade.