Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray on Monday asked the administration to immediately look into the demands made by MARD and find suitable solutions.
A delegation of MARD, which is the apex association of resident doctors from all the government medical colleges and hospitals in the State met Thackeray who was accompanied by the Tourism and Environment Minister Aaditya Thackeray.
The agitating resident doctors, who had begun an indefinite strike on Friday, have demanded a complete waiver in fees and stop recovery of taxes from the stipend towards charges for hostels which they claimed are in a bad condition. They have also demanded a risk incentive for services rendered during the pandemic.
After the meeting, the MARD state president Dyaneshwar Dhobale expressed relief saying that the discussion was positive.
Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) called off the strike after meeting the state CM in the afternoon. "We met the CM in the afternoon. We had a constructive discussion on the issues we are facing. He has assured us that our demands will be met within a month's time," Dr Dyaneshwar Dhoble Patil, MARD President, said.
Dr Dhoble further said that it was not possible for the administration to waive tuition fees. “Therefore, it has been decided to provide an honorarium to doctors in lieu of tuition fees following which we all have decided to call off the strike after receiving assurances from the chief minister,” added Dr Dhoble.
Meanwhile a hospital staff said, “The doctors' strike not only caused problems for OPD patients but also for the IPD patients as none of the senior doctors were on duty. Although the administration claimed that the senior doctor was on duty to continue the OPD, the claim proved to be wrong at Sion Hospital. A large billboard was put up saying that the OPD service would be closed due to the doctors' strike.”
