The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has announced a pan-Maharashtra indefinite strike starting February 22, Thursday. The press release released by the MARD on February 19, Monday, read, “A Pan Maharashtra Indefinite Strike commencing on Thursday, February 22, 2024, at 5:00 PM. Emergency duties will be maintained during the strike period as an essential measure.”
In addition, the notice mentioned the authorities’ obligations and stated, “Our intention is not to disrupt services but to ensure that the authorities fulfil their obligations towards resident doctors, who are the backbone of the healthcare system.”
Why are Junior Doctors (JRs) going on a strike?
It is alleged that the JRs have been facing issues concerning accommodation infrastructure and irregular stipends for over a year. The strike, which was scheduled to take place on January 3, 2023, was called off owing to assurances and promises given by the government officials to the JRs. However, the conditions deteriorated, they said. Therefore, MARD Central decided to go on strike on February 7 as their demands for better infrastructure and timely payments were still not met.
On January 31, when MARD released a press release mentioning the resumption of their indefinite strike, Dr Abhijit Helge, President, MARD met Hasan Mushrif, Minister of Medical Education, Maharashtra, along with Dilip Mhaisekar, Commissioner, Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and other government officials.
After the meeting, a statement released by MARD mentioned that Minister Hasan Mushrif was "positive" about resolving the issues. However, JRs have been given several such "dry verbal assurances" in the past year.
On the day of the strike
After receiving “dry and verbal assurances” from the authorities, when MARD began the pan-Maharashtra strike on February 7, at 5 pm, Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister; Hasan Mushrif, Medical Education Minister, along with several other authorities held a “momentous meeting” with MARD representatives. Here, the authorities mentioned fulfilling the three demands of JRs including, better accommodation, a hike in stipend and regularity in the payment of stipend.
According to the statement released by the association, the authorities heard the problems of the medicos "in-depth”. Further, it read, “The authorities were empathetic and it was realised that JR’s demands were legitimate.”
Moreover, the statement also mentioned that the government assured MARD of the granting of the necessary funds to complete and regularisation of the stipend payment within the next two days.
Besides this, the JRs also claimed that if the government fails to execute its promises in the next 10 days, Central MARD will go on an indefinite pan-Maharashtra strike. As a result, JRs have announced to resume their strike from Thursday, February 22
