Over 2,000 medical professionals including doctors and college lecturers on Monday boycotted routine duties in state-run medical colleges and hospitals to protest against the Maharashtra government.
Since January 5, medical professionals across the state – many appointed on an ad-hoc basis – have been demanding permanent postings and pay hikes. As their demands have been unfulfilled, the professionals have staged sit-in protests and hunger strikes to attract the government’s attention.
Dr Sachin Mulkutkar, a member of the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association, said that all professionals have decided to stop routine hospital work until their demands are met. “The government must regularise all posts and ensure a hike in salary,” he said. The doctors, however, agreed to carry out emergency surgeries.
There are over 1,700 lecturers across government medical colleges in the state, data from the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association showed. Out of the total, 350 are working on an ad-hoc basis and have been demanding permanent positions. Apart from them, over 2,000 permanent lecturers and assistant professors have demanded a pay hike.
The medical professionals said they met the secretary of the state’s medical education department, Saurabh Vijay, to discuss their demands but their talks were inconclusive.
The protestors will meet the state’s Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh on March 16. “Till then our protest continues,” Mulkutkar said.
Meanwhile, newly enrolled MBBS students have not been able to attend a single lecture. Their classes were supposed to start on February 14.
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