HC directs striking Maha docs to resume work

Mumbai: PTI





The Bombay high court on Thursday stepped in to end the four-day stir by resident doctors directing them to resume work immediately even as chief minister Devendra Fadnavis mooted a panel to resolve security issues in staterun hospitals.

As the stir affected health services and put hundreds of patients to hardships, the court observed that “medical attention“ cannot wait, adding that the profession of doctors is so “sacred“ that they cannot afford to go on strike. Union health minister J P Nadda also joined Fadnavis in appealing to the resident doctors to get back to work and asked states to take measures to improve security of doctors. Unfazed by the government's warning of suspension and cutting their pay , the resident doctors abstained from work for the fourth day on Thursday .

Nearly 4,000 resident doctors are staying away from work since Monday , demanding enhanced security in the wake of a string of attacks on doctors by patients' relatives at government hospitals across the state.

The high court said the issues and demands of the doctors can be amicably resolved. The court also directed the government and the management of various hospitals not to take any punitive action against the doctors who were served notice on Wednesday for not resuming their duties. A division bench of chief justice Manjula Chellur and justice G S Kulkarni was hearing a petition filed by activist Afak Mandaviya seeking action against the protesting doctors.