Mumbai: The doctors' strike in Mumbai entered its second day on Tuesday, thereby creating inconvenience for several patients. The services provided across state-run hospitals in the state were compromised, even as over 7000 medical professionals from across Maharashtra staged a protest demanding an increase in the dearness allowance, better conditions of their hostels, more postings for the senior professionals in the field, and pending covid allowance from Mumbai Municipal Corporation.
Professionals from some high-functioning hospitals in the city including KEM, Nair, Sion, Cooper, etc have participated in the strike. Around 2000 of them were seen with banners, shouting slogans, asking for their demands to be fulfilled. The crowd gathered at the KEM hospital premises in the city has been on a strike since Monday, clarifying all their demands loud and clear.
Protesters belonging to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) claimed that they have approached the authorities several times and kept forth their demands but to no avail. "We have only gotten assurances so far, no action. We will continue our strike until we receive a written assurance promising that our demands shall be fulfilled," one of the protesters said.
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Though some of the protesters have entirely given up providing services, some of them are selectively available for emergency services. The premises of the government hospitals are mostly deserted, with the available doctors overburdened with work.
The municipal authorities have meanwhile claimed that the strikes have not caused any major impact on patient care. Additional Commissioner of the municipality Sanjeev Kumar however reassured that all the demands put forth by the protesting resident doctors will be resolved in the next 15 days.
