The Bombay High Court has asked resident doctors to call off their strike on Thursday.
Resident doctors across Maharashtra decided to call off their five-day long strike and resume work today after a satisfactory meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis last night, wherein the state government assured them that it will look into their demands.
"The state government has issued a letter of assurance and we feel our demands are being addressed. We have asked our members to resume duty from Saturday morning," the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors said, in a statement.
More than 4,500 doctors had been on strike for the last five days following a series of assaults on doctors in various parts of Maharashtra. The doctors initially wanted better security but later seemed to have added more demands to their list, including a pay hike. While the strike did not affect emergency services, OPDs and general ward patients were heavily inconvenienced. The Maharashtra government, throughout the week, criticised the doctors for going on strike.
On Thursday, the protest spill over the national capital as nearly
40,000 doctors went on a mass casual leave, expressing solidarity with their Maharashtra colleagues. The protest was called by the Indian Medical Association following the Maharashtra government's repeated 'join work or face action' ultimatums.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had given the doctors a final ultimatum, hours before meeting the association yesterday, to resume duty or face "legal action".
"Enough is enough... Tell me, what is the difference between the people who beat doctors and those kill patients (by not attending to them)," Mr Fadnavis had said.
"We respect doctors but they should not stretch it too far," he added.
Earlier this week, hearing a petition on the strike, the
Bombay High Court too criticised the doctors, telling them that they should resign if they did not want to work.
"You are not factory workers that you will resort to such protests. Shame on you. How can doctors behave in such a manner?" the court had observed.
(with inputs from Agencies)