Protesting nurses get resident doctor's support

The Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has extended its support towards the protest of nurses serving across government medical colleges and hospitals in Maharashtra.

According to Dr Avinash Dahiphale, president of MARD, “For the last one week, the Maharashtra State Nurses Association has been calling for a strike for their various demands. We, the resident doctors, feel that all their demands are just and fair. Also, along with the doctors, the nurses have played a key role in the fight against Covid-19 for the past two years.”

“Therefore, we feel that the government should consider their demands and resolve them immediately, so that the patient care for the general public remains uninterrupted,” added Dahiphale.

The nurses have been on a continuous strike against the government's decision to outsource vacant posts of nurses in the state. Hundreds of nurses have gathered at the Azad Maidan to protest against the government decision.

More than 10,000 nurses registered with the Maharashtra State Nursing Association have remained off duty causing medical services to be affected across the state.

According to the nurses, they do not want any outsourcing in their nursing profession, the vacancies of nurses have not been 100% filled and they are low on manpower.

“The promotions of many nurses are pending, and the hospitals have opened new departments but they have not opened any new posts nor recruited anyone for it. There hasn’t been any recruitment for 5 years,” complained the nurses. MARD is an association of resident doctors of all the government and civic run medical colleges and hospitals of Maharashtra.