Over 400 resident doctors owing allegiance to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) called off their four-day-old strike on Tuesday, after the Maharashtra Government gave them a written assurance that it would enhance security arrangements for them at the hospital.
The resident doctors, who had gone on an indefinite strike from Saturday after an alleged assault on two of their colleagues and a nurse by the relatives of a patient, announced the withdrawal of their agitation, following
their talks with Maharashtra’s Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan.
During the talks, the Minister assured a delegation of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors that the State Government would increase the number of security personnel deployed at the JJ Hospital by 28 men as against 180 security personnel currently at various places across the hospital, including all entry and exit points, elevators and six major wards.
On their part, the agitating doctors were demanding 200 more security personnel, including two guards at each of the 44 wards at the hospital. However, what the State Government has agreed to minimum increase of 28 in the number of security personnel.
Agreeing to agitating doctors’ another demand, the Minister said that the State Government would install a centralised alarm system at the JJ Hospital in the next two months.
Mahajan also assured that it would deploy additional 1,100 security personnel at the various Government
hospitals across the State in view of the increased incidents of assaults on doctors by the relatives and associates of the patients.
Apart from the Minister and the MARD representatives, State Medication Education Director Dr Pravin Shingare, J J Hospital’s Dean Dr S Nandankar and his predecessor Dr T P lahane participated in the talks.
The resident doctors of J J Hospital had gone on strike after two doctors — Dr Atish Parikh and Dr Shefali Dharmadhikari — and a nurse were thrashed on Saturday by the relatives of a patient Zaida Sanaullah Sheikh (45) who had died after failing to respond to treatment.