Junior doctors will resume work, medicos’ body tells Bombay HC

Bringing relief to thousands of patients, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) on Thursday assured the Bombay high court that their members will return to work on Thursday.

A bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice Girish Kulkarni said the resident doctors can amicably resolve the issue by talking to the government and asked them to return to work immediately.

Around 4,500 junior doctors in Maharashtra have been protesting for the past four days over a spate of attacks on them. They are demanding enhanced security in state-run hospitals.

The assurance from the MARD came after advocate general Rohit Deo informed the court that the government had decided to deploy 1,100 armed guards of Maharashtra State Security Corporation in government and civic hospitals across the state and 500 of them will be posted in Mumbai by April 5.

He said the remaining 600 personnel will be deployed by April 30. The guards are conferred all necessary police powers, Deo added.

The court accepted the statement and asked the doctors to report to work. “You (doctors) resume work and see if everything is done as assured by the government. We will hear the matter every fortnight and supervise the issue,” the judges said.

The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Afak Mandviya, who complained about repeated strikes by doctors, paralysing health services and adversely affecting poor patients across the state.

Three rounds of meetings between the health minister and the representatives of MARD took place on Wednesday, Deo said.

Doctors promised to resume duties, but only 92 of more than 3,500 resident doctors returned. Therefore, he requested the HC to direct the doctors to resume their duties.

The court agreed with the view expressed by Deo. “Your profession is such that you cannot afford to go on a strike,” said the bench.