Medical interns join resident doctors’ protest

Around 4,000 medical interns in Maharashtra, including 900 in Mumbai, will go on indefinite mass leave from Friday in solidarity with protesting doctors in West Bengal.

MUMBAI: Around 4,000 interns in the state, including 900 in Mumbai, will go on indefinite mass leave from 8 am on Friday in solidarity with doctors protesting in West Bengal. The Association of State Medical Interns Maharashtra (ASMI) said that the decision was taken on Thursday in response to the mob attack on doctors at RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, on the night of August 15.

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The interns have stated that they will closely watch the situation at RG Kar Medical College and decide their next steps based on the developments there. “While resident doctors were on protest, interns assisted the senior doctors and managed the patients while wearing black armbands,” said Dr Abhinav Wagh, ASMI. “After seeing how things escalated so badly in Kolkata on the night of August 15, we have decided to go on mass leave too. For this, we request people to support us by not rushing to hospitals unless there is an emergency.”

Meanwhile, as the indefinite strike by resident doctors from civic- and state-run hospitals entered its third day, Central MARD and BMC MARD met chief minister Eknath Shinde with their demands. Stating that they had requested Shinde to ask the central government to deploy central security forces in Kolkata, Central MARD also emphasised the urgent need to implement a Central Health Protection Act, which would provide legal protection to medical staff and enable preventive measures to curb incidents of violence.

‘The chief minister recognised the importance of addressing these matters promptly and expressed his readiness to liaise with the central government to improve the situation in West Bengal and ensure the safety of resident doctors in Maharashtra. Regarding the investigation, the CM mentioned that he would write to the home minister, requesting him to expedite the process,’ stated the ASMI press release.

BMC MARD members said that with respect to infrastructure, Shinde said he would call a meeting of PWD, DMER, BMC authorities and MARD (BMC and Central). “He also called the municipal commissioner, and asked him to expedite our process for hostel discrepancies,” stated BMC MARD.