Mumbai: Resident doctors in Maharashtra called off their proposed indefinite strike over stipend issues on Monday. The move comes after the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) agreed to disburse the resident doctors’ stipend, pending for the last seven months. Senior doctors said they called off their strike on Monday morning after the DMER assured them of releasing the pending stipends of the resident doctors of four medical colleges.
“In the last seven months, the DMER has disbursed stipend of just four months. They have also promised to release the remaining stipend by April 10,” he said. Dr Tatyarao Lahane, additional director, DMER said, “We will try to clear the pending stipend soon. We had sent a letter to all the government medical colleges asking them to call off their strike.”
In a letter to the DMER on April 4, the MARD had warned the authorities of a strike by the resident doctors of the government medical colleges in Latur and Ambejogai over delay in stipend payment, and protests in Mumbai to show solidarity to the doctors from state peripheral medical colleges.
Dr Praful Mahakalkar, President, MARD, Latur Government Medical College said they have given an ultimatum of three days to the college administrations for releasing the remaining stipends of the resident doctors. “Currently we are calling off the strike, but we will go on strike again if the government tries to fool us,” he said. The resident doctors from Latur, Ambejogai, Akola and Nagpur government medical colleges had been protesting against the government on the issue of pending stipend for the last several months.
