HC orders striking doctors to resume work in Maharashtra
mumbai — Cracking the whip, the Bombay High Court on Thursday ordered all striking doctors in government-run hospitals to return to work immediately, and asked the Maharashtra government to provide them adequate security to ensure they can work without fear of violence.
The court also asked the authorities to make provisions to permit only two relatives per patient inside the hospital and said the government should deploy the assured security personnel at various hospitals.
Nearly 4,000 resident doctors have been striking since Monday, demanding enhanced security in the wake of a string of attacks on doctors by patients’ relatives at government hospitals across the state.
In Delhi, Union Health Minister J P Nadda asked states to take measures to improve security of doctors. After the court‘s direction, the representatives of the protesting doctors went into a huddle to discuss the directive and the steps to be taken thereof.
According to Dr Sagar Mundada, the chairman of the Indian Medical Association’s youth wing, a decision on the matter will be taken soon. The protests have been hampering the services of Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) in various hospitals.
The court asked the doctors to get back to work and resolve their issues and demands amicably with the government.
A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice G S Kulkarni gave the directive while hearing a petition filed by activist Afak Mandaviya seeking action against the protesting doctors.
The court also directed the government and management of various hospitals not to take any punitive action against the doctors who were served notice on Wednesday for not resuming their duties.
“The doctors will have to first go and resume their duty. All other issues can be amicably sorted out gradually,” Chief Justice Chellur said. “We understand that the doctors are working in strained and horrible conditions sometimes, but we request them to resume work immediately,” she said.
The government had spoken to representatives of the striking doctors and accepted all their demands, he said. “The state has enacted special laws to protect doctors. The quantum of punishment has been increased and attacks on doctors made a non-bailable offence,” the chief minister said.
State Advocate General Rohit Deo informed the high court on Thursday that the government has decided to deploy an additional 1,100 armed police personnel from Maharashtra State Security Corporation in all the state and civic-run hospitals.
“The first lot of 500 police personnel will be deployed at hospitals in Mumbai on April 5. The remaining 600 will be deployed at hospitals across the state by April 30,” he said. “This will be in addition to the already deployed policemen at the hospitals,” Deo said.
The court accepted this statement and asked the doctors to resume 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. —