Surgeries, classes hit in state as medical teachers stop work as part of protest

The JJ Hospital conducts an average of 65 surgeries every day. On Monday, only 21 procedures were carried out. According to MSMTA 1100-1200 planned or elective surgeries were postponed across the 19 medical colleges in the state

Mumbai: Over 1,000 planned surgeries got postponed and medical classes were impacted on Monday after 2700 medical teachers including professors, associate professors, assistant professors and lecturers from the state-run medical colleges intensified their agitation by stopping their routine procedures and outpatient department (OPD) work.

JJ Hospital doctors and medical teachers who have been protesting since the last 45 days give ultimatum of 14th March to the State government for their pay hike and regularisation of temporary lectures, at JJ Hospital, Byculla, in Mumbai on Monday. (Bhushan Koyande/ HT Photo)

The teachers have been protesting for regularisation of posts, full rollout of the seventh pay commission and time-bound promotions.

There are 3200 posts of medical teachers across the state but only 2700 are filled currently. Despite the vacancies, around 350 medical teachers are working on a contractual basis. “We have been demanding that these contractual teachers should be regularised,” said Dr Sachin Mulkutkar from the Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA).

The protests began on January 5 in the form of hunger strikes, and sit-in gatherings but their demands were not approved by the medical education department.

On Monday, a group of representatives from the MSMTA got an audience with Saurabh Vijay, secretary of the state’s medical education department to discuss their issues.

Besides regularising the 350 medical teachers, MSMTA has also demanded that they should be paid allowances as per the seventh pay commission. “The government has applied the seventh pay commission but our allowances are still based on the sixth pay commission, which is not right,” said Dr Uday Mohite, from the medical college in Latur and the central president of the MSMTA.

According to Mohite, another prominent demand is about timely promotions. “Teachers don’t get promoted for years altogether which is unfair and demoralising,” he said adding the strike is now indefinite till their demands are met.

The protesting teachers stopped all medical as well as administrative work including teaching the undergraduate and postgraduate medical students. Only emergency work was carried on. The resident doctors and senior residents took charge of the OPDs and routine medical procedures, even as hospitals had to postpone elective procedures.

“Our OPD saw around 3195 patients on Monday, just like other days. The residents and senior residents could manage them,” said Dr Ranjit Mankeshwar, dean of the state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai. “We had to postpone a few elective surgeries,” he said.

The JJ Hospital conducts an average of 65 surgeries every day. On Monday, only 21 procedures were carried out. According to MSMTA 1100-1200 planned or elective surgeries were postponed across the 19 medical colleges in the state.