MARD to hold a silent protest against non-receipt of salary

NP NEWS 24 ONLINE: The Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) will hold a silent protest over the non-payment of stipend to 1,000 resident doctors from the State.

On 25^th December, around 10 am Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) is protesting as around 1,000 resident doctors from various medical colleges in the state have not received their salary for the past two months. The Mumbai-based MARD has planned to come out in support of these resident doctors by selling fruits in the Sion Hospital campus.

Central MARD President Dr Lokesh Chirwatkar explained that since November, some medical colleges have not given stipends to resident doctors. “Resident doctors from government medical college at Ambejogai, Beed, Latur, Aurangabad, and Nagpur have started a unique protest to highlight the non-payment of stipend by selling fruits in the campus from Monday. The issue is grim as there are around 1,000 doctors who have not been given the stipend. However, the condition in Pune and Mumbai is not like that. But the issue, nevertheless, is important and should be taken up,” said Chirwatkar.

Sadly, there has been no concrete response from the authorities regarding this.

“Other members of the MARD have decided to support this issue by organising fruit selling stalls inside our college campus. The authorities should rectify this problem,” said Chirwatkar.

He also said that a letter from Government College (GMC), Nagpur, that states that the stipend is not paid in time due to lack of funds available with the college.

Resident doctors from Aurangabad’s Government Medical College have already started selling fruits on the streets to protest pending payment of their stipend. Resident doctors from these government-run medical colleges have not been paid their stipend since the past 50 days.

Despite several attempts, the Directorate of Medical Education (DMER) was not available for comment. Resident doctors from Mumbai will also be staging similar protests from Tuesday. They will join doctors from Ambejogai, Beed, Latur, Aurangabad, and Nagpur in demanding stipends due to them.