Doctors at Mumbai’s JJ Hospital call off indefinite strike against ‘harassment’, ‘dictatorship’

“Dr TP Lahane Sir’s contribution to the area of ophthalmology is undeniably substantial, however the issue of resident doctor educational loss was quite serious. This dictatorship has bothered resident doctors for the last twenty-five years,” it added. With this, they officially called off the strike.

The resident doctors also held a meeting with state Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan on Saturday to discuss their long pending demands of arrears and stipend.

In the backdrop of protests by resident doctors of the government-run JJ Hospital, the state government accepted the resignation of Dr Lahane as coordinator of Preventable Blindness Free Maharashtra Mission along with the application for voluntary retirement of Dr Parekh from the post of Professor at the Ophthalmology department of JJ Hospital. Along with these two senior doctors, the resignation letters of seven honorarium doctors have also been accepted.

“We have approved the VRS application of Dr Ragini Parekh and she has been relieved from government service from June 3. However, Dr Parekh needs to follow some conditions which include that she should not apply for partial installment of pension before the expiry of three months’ notice period,” said an official.

The resident doctors from the Ophthalmology department have been at loggerheads with Dr Lahane and Dr Parekh, blaming them for students’ lack of surgical hands-on experience, academic and research activities, and have accused them of using unpleasant and obscene language. Although Dr Lahane, the former head of JJ Hospital, wasn’t an employee, under the Preventable Blindness Free Maharashtra Mission, he would conduct cataract surgeries at the hospital. As alleged, this hindered the practical experience of the resident doctors as they weren’t allowed to practice.

“None of the resident doctors from the first and second year performed cataract surgeries. We just do the post-operation duties. To make world records, he kept performing cataract surgeries at our expense,” said a resident doctor.

Meanwhile, as per a new order, Dr Ravi Chauhan, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology Department at Indira Gandhi Govt Medical College Nagpur has been appointed as HOD of JJ Ophthalmology department.