A public interest litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court questioning the strike by resident doctors at JJ Hospital. It claims the stir has hit treatment of patients, and urges the state government to invoke provisions of the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) and take criminal action against striking doctors.
Resident doctors are on an indefinite strike since April 3 demanding the transfer of the hospital’s dean and the head of the ophthalmology department citing alleged harassment of students.
The PIL on Thursday by RTI activist Afak Anwar Mandaviya before a division bench of Justices Abhay Oka and PD Naik expresses concern over frequent strikes by doctors affiliated to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD).
It also says that as per reports by JJ Hospital on April 4, eight patients died at the facility, two on April 5 and three on April 6. The petition claims patients have been told to take discharge from the hospital and new patients are not being admitted for surgeries because of the strike. The petitioner has also said patients have been told to come for treatment when the strike is called off.
The PIL says that MARD members have gone on strike “without considering the gravity of the situation” and the impact on patients already admitted, and MARD have ignored the grievance redressal committee formed to look into their demands.
The petitioner claims he met the dean of JJ Hospital and learnt that an inquiry had been initiated against two doctors, which sparked the agitation. Mandaviya also described allegations of harassment against the dean as “false and misleading”, and that students have started acting as administrators instead of studying and treating patients.
Striking resident doctors from teaching hospitals across the state will continue agitating despite the government serving a show cause notice to MARD asking the body to call off the stir or face action under MESMA. Around 4,000 doctors from across Maharashtra joined the strike on Friday.
The Directorate of Medical Education and Research served the show cause notice on Thursday, a copy of which was received by striking doctors on Friday. “We are not employees, so MESMA can’t be invoked against us. They can’t remove 4,000 doctors,” Dr Sagar Mundada, president, MARD, said.
