Resident doctors in Mumbai demand arrears, start social media campaign

In a statement on Wednesday, the Mumbai chapter of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said that doctors will shut down Covid services in the next seven days if the BMC does not release the stipends.

Resident doctors at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)-run hospitals in Mumbai have threatened to stop treating Covid-19 services if their arrears are not cleared soon. They have not received additional stipends for almost nine months.

Resident doctors start campaign in Mumbai. (Sourced)

On Friday, #BMCbetrayedus and #BetrayedStillWorking trended on Twitter as resident doctors took to social media to register their protest against the non-payment of stipends and arrears.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Mumbai chapter of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said that doctors will shut down Covid services in the next seven days if the BMC does not release the stipends.

“We do not want to stop our services to Covid-19 patients. We are hoping and trying that it does not come to that. We are putting up posters at the hospitals and making our voices heard as we continue our work,” said Arun Ghule, president, MARD, Mumbai.

Doctors demand arrears through social media campaign. (Sourced)

From May 2020 till January, over 3,000 resident doctors at the four BMC-run hospitals—KEM, Sion, Nair and Cooper—were paid ₹10,000 a month. It was then discontinued as Covid-19 cases started to go down. In September, the government announced an increase of ₹10,000 in the stipend for resident doctors. The BMC only released a circular regarding it in March.

When doctors demanded the arrears for the stipend increase, they said the BMC informed them that the arrears were adjusted against the ₹10,000 paid to them last year during the first Covid-19 wave. “This is unfair, especially since doctors have been working non-stop, risking their lives in the pandemic,” said Ghule.

MARD said the arrears for each doctor amount to ₹1.2 lakh.

Despite repeated attempts, Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, health, and TP Lahane, medical education director, were unavailable for comments.

The Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors has also extended its support to the doctors in Mumbai. “This tragedy is greater than the pandemic Itself for the resident doctors. The government has finally found scapegoats to hide their failures in the resident doctors,” said the association in a statement on Friday.