PUNE, Nov 1: Nearly 300 resident doctors under the aegis of the Pune branch of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) went on a flash strike on Monday at B J Medical College and Sassoon Hospital to press for their demands including central parity in pay scales.The Pune branch of the MARD joined their counterparts in the country by observing the token strike today and have threatened to launch an indefinite strike from November 22 if their demands are not met with. MARD Pune branch secretary Nilesh Nikam and others submitted a memorandum of their demands to Mrudula Phadke, dean, B J Medical College.Deputy dean P M Bulakh said that the services were not affected and there was an attendance of 2624 patients at the OPD and 17 operations were performed during the course of the day. The demands include central parity in pay scales for resident and intern doctors to be made applicable with retrospective effect from January 1997.The resident doctors urged that there should be an uniform implementation of the Supreme Court verdict and each state should have a similar residency programme. While the resident doctors get a pay scale of Rs 4,500 per month their counterparts in Delhi, Chandigarh and other states get more than Rs 12,000, Vivek Ankulekar, MARD member said.The MARD members also protested against the shoddy working conditions and lamented about the lack of fixed working hours. No further increase in any expense of registered and unregistered resident doctors and reduction in excessive fees charged are among the other demands.The doctors have also demanded that there should be no further decrease in existing number of resident doctors or postgraduate registrations. They have also demanded upliftment of facilities for resident doctors, and upgradation of all departments in medical colleges and hospitals according to the guidelines of the Medical Council of India for better patient care.
