Pune: Seeking job regularisation and salary hike among various other demands, a total of 69 assistant professors of BJ Medical College have gone on an indefinite leave en masse on Monday
The protesting doctors observed mass bunk under the banner of Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) primarily asking to regularise them as permanent employees and implement the 7th pay commission and give them the status of "Covid warriors".
Presently, the doctors are firm on their grounds to continue their mass bunk. According to them, they have all been consistently active in college in teaching as well as providing treatment but they have not been given their due.
The doctors, who have been selected through Divisional Selection Board (DSB) claimed that their duties have not been regularised by the Director of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and the salaries they have been paid are as per the 6th pay scale and not as per the 7th pay scale, are being neglected.
As a reason, the doctors have chosen to assert their demands by going on mass leave starting November 2 indefinitely.
Commenting on the issue, Dr. Nandkumar Salunkhe, head of the BJMC unit of Maharashtra State Medical Teachers Association (MSMTA) told Pune Mirror, "We want the government to consider our demands that have been pending for long. We have approached several officials and Ministers in the past but it yielded no result. Due to this, we are forced to go on mass bunk".
He also added that the government has taken several decisions about the pay hikes and regularisations of duties of healthcare staff when they protested in the past. In view of the rise in coronavirus cases, they were complying as they never wanted to take any advantage of the situation. However, none of their demands were reportedly heard.
Another doctor claimed that many among them have been constantly working for several years and even they are being denied the benefits due to them as any other regular government. He also added that many among the others are also awaiting time-bound promotion and a time-bound pay scale which is why they have taken up the fight collectively.
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"We were given false assurances, but none of them were implemented by the government. We are regularly following up with the government authorities about our demands but they are not fulfilled yet. Until our demands are not met, we will continue our strike," Dr Salunkhe told HT.
Meanwhile, the college officials have come forward in favor of their argument and stated that no services of the college nor the hospital have been hampered so far. However, if the resistance continues for long there can be some repercussions. As for now, the request of the protestors have been taken note of and forwarded to the DMER officials, and a decision is awaited.
Dr Murlidhar Tambe, dean, BJ Medical College, and Sassoon Hospital, told HT, "We are in talks with the protesting assistant professors and doctors, their demands will be forwarded to the state government. We will try to normalize the situation as early as possible, there won't be any impact on treatment at the hospital."