Mumbai:
Hundreds of patients are stranded outside KEM hospital, with resident doctors across Maharashtra on an indefinite strike.
"My son is really weak. He needs to be operated urgently but I have been told I have to wait for four days now because of the strike," says Mohammed Ramzan.
Medical services across Maharashtra have been hit with 4500 resident doctors and 7500 interns going on an indefinite strike.
They are asking for higher pay at par with resident doctors in government hospitals in other states.
Resident doctors in Maharashtra are paid Rs 15000, lower than their counterparts elsewhere.
- Maharashtra: Rs 15,000
- Delhi: Rs 47000
Karnataka: Rs 42000 - Uttar Pradesh: Rs 38000
"If my colleague who takes the same entrance exam but joins a Delhi hospital gets Rs 45000 for working 8 hours, while we work nearly 24 hours and get less than half is that fair? " asks Dr Anil Dudhabate, Secretary, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors.
The increased hike is a longstanding demand, one the state government had agreed to look into.
This time too it has promised to consider it but doctors say they will not resume work unless the government has concrete proposals.
With rain diseases making their presence felt, the strike couldn't have come at a worse time. And with doctors at district hospitals also threatening to join in, patients across Maharashtra are in for some tough times.