Mumbai : Despite the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) issuing a notice (dated July 9) to the deans of 14 government medical colleges in the state to submit a security audit report by July 25 specifying the requirement of CCTVs and security personnel in each college, 10 colleges, including KEM, Nair and Sion, from the city have not even formed a security audit committee so far.
In the wake of this, the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) had written a letter to education minister Vinod Tawde on Wednesday asking him to look into the matter as the security of the doctors is at stake, with five doctors from the state having already been attacked since the strike of MARD doctors.
Dr Sagar Mundada, the MARD president, said, “It’s almost a month since the deadline. The authorities pay attention only when a strike is threatened. The lack of security poses a huge threat to the lives of doctors.”
MARD doctors had gone on an indefinite strike on July 2 asking for the fulfillment of 10 demands, which included an increase in stipend, paid leave of two months for those undergoing tuberculosis treatment and two months’ paid maternity leave, among others. The demands also included regular work hours not exceeding eight hours and better security by installing CCTV cameras in hospitals. Out of the 14 colleges, only three, Nanded, Ambejogai and Pune, have finished the audit.
