Resident doctors of JJ, Sion and 3 other hospitals strike over assault on doctors
The doctor’s strike continued on Tuesday (Representational Image)
Resident doctors of the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai continued their strike for the fourth day today against the assault of two of their colleagues following the death of a patient last week.
Further, resident doctors of Sion Hospital, who had gone on strike yesterday, are continuing their strike today. In addition, doctors of St George Hospital, GT Hospital and Cama Hospital have also joined in.
The doctors are continuing the protest as talks with authorities concerned failed to break the deadlock.
The doctors have been on a strike since Saturday, demanding sufficient security in the hospital to protect them against any outrage by patients’ relatives.
They said hospitals were provided security guards following similar incidents earlier, but the personnel were manning the entrances.
The protesting doctors held several rounds of meetings with authorities, including medical education minister Girish Mahajan, and the hospital’s dean but failed to get a “satisfactory” response, a senior member of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said.
According to reports, the government has given in to the demand of additional guards. However, they have not agreed to provide a written assurance, which the doctor’s have demanded.
“Unless the security personnel are deployed inside the hospital, we are not going to resume work. We want protection,” he said.
Two resident doctors, including a woman, of the J J Hospital, located in south Mumbai’s Byculla area, were allegedly assaulted on May 19 by relatives of Zaida Sanaullah Sheikh (45), after she died while undergoing treatment there.
The police had registered a case under IPC sections 353 (assault on public servant), 324 (causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and Maharashtra Medical Practitioners Service Act-2010, and arrested four people in connection with the incident.
The four, identified as Mohd Altaf Anulahak Shaikh (32), Sony Sanahullah Shah (23), Rihan Sanaullah Shah (22) and Salima Khatun Sanaullah Shah (20), were later remanded in judicial custody till May 31.
A spokesperson of the MARD had yesterday said that if the strike gets prolonged, they will run a separate Out-Patient Department (OPD) for patients.
The doctors, meanwhile, may go on an indefinite strike until their demands are met by authorities.
