Resume work in 2 days or face suspension, residents told

Nagpur: State medical education minister Girish Mahajan on Tuesday warned the resident doctors of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) that they will be suspended if they fail to resume work in two days.

The resident doctors of GMCH are on a mass bunk since the last four days, demanding security at the hospital. The GMCs across the state are functioning without security guards for the last 25 days.

Mahajan told TOI, "The resident doctors cannot sit at home if security guards are deployed for another one month. They need to understand their responsibility. If they don't resume work in the next two days, I will have to act and suspend them. I will make sure that a backup arrangement is in place so that the hospital runs unaffected in their absence."

On Tuesday, the resident doctors' representatives from all the GMCs had a meeting with Mahajan on Mumbai. The doctors were expecting some relief after the meeting, but things took an ugly turn instead. According to the doctors, Mahajan didn't pay heed to their demands and blamed them for affecting hospital facilities.

Pradeep Kaswan, who represented GMCH (Nagpur) during the meeting, confirmed that the doctors will continue to strike work until their demands are fulfilled.

All the resident doctors and many undergraduate students participated in a candle march at GMCH in the evening over the issue.