A seven-member delegation from the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) met senior officers from the State medical education department on Wednesday to discuss lack of security in hospitals. Resident doctors from Mumbai have announced their support for their counterparts from the Nagpur Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) who are on mass leave since last week.
In Nagpur, around 400 resident doctors from GMCH were handed termination letters for not reporting to work since October 7. Last week, a woman’s body was found on the hospital premises, prompting resident doctors to strike work to protest lack of security. A month ago, government-appointed armed security guards at the hospital went on a strike.
Dr. Dinesh Sharma, a resident doctor at GMCH, said the security guards were appointed after prolonged protests by the doctors. “They should have seen the guards’ strike coming and made alternate arrangements. We shouldn’t have to raise the security issue every time.” He said despite the termination letters, their strike will continue.
Resident doctors in Mumbai and other parts of the State are working, but with black ribbons tied on their arms. They have also organised candle light marches in support of their GMCH colleagues.
Agitation for security
In March, resident doctors went on a five-day strike demanding better security, following which the government finally appointed around 1,100 armed guards from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC). “These guards were demanding a pay hike and permanent jobs, and stopped reporting to work in protest. The MSSC has suspended these guards and is recruiting personnel for the hospitals,” a medical education department officer said.
In Mumbai, hospitals have made temporary arrangements: KEM has 65 guards, Sion has 58 and Nair 15, but none of them are armed. The BMC has 891 posts for security guards in hospitals run by it, of which 387 are vacant. An additional 794 guards have been hired through the private agency, but their competence is in question as they have been contracted from the lowest bidder, and aren’t among the best.
The BMC security guards make ₹18,000 and above while the Eagle security guards’ salary starts from ₹14,000. The apathy is the same in State government run hospitals like JJ, St George, Cama and GT in Mumbai and 18 odd other hospitals in remaining parts of Maharashtra. The State hospitals have a post of paharekari who are class IV employees. They are notorious for alcohol addiction and absentism. The class IV workers’ union is so strong that if one person is pulled up one, all of them stop work. The State hospitals gets additional security guards from Maharashtra Ex-Servicemen Corporation (MESCO) Ltd. But none of them are armed and hence they are not feared at all.
The security situation in public hospitals improved drastically after the MSSC guards were brought in. These guards have police-like powers including to make arrests and use a weapon to discharge their duty. “But now everything is back to how things were before the March strike,” Dr. Vineeta Singh from JJ Hospital, a member of MARD’s advisory board, said.
