Mumbai, August 8: Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has temporarily called off its strike on humanitarian grounds. According to an ANI tweet, the doctors have temporarily called off their strike until further notice, in view of the flood situation in the state and abrogation of Article 370. In a letter to the Dean, they have mentioned that all the resident doctors will resume their duties with immediate effect. Doctors' Strike in West Bengal: Protest Intensifies as Senior Medics Join Stir, Government-Run Hospitals May Witness Total Shutdown.

MARD on Monday threatened to go on strike from August 7 if their stipend was not brought at par with that of resident doctors of Central institutes. In a release, the association said Maharashtra minister Girish Mahajan had promised a hike in the stipend amount earlier this year but nothing had happened since. The body had threatened to withdraw from all services, including emergency ones, the release said.

Check the letter here:

According to a PTI report,  a MARD official as quoted saying, "We were assured by state medical education minister Girish Mahajan on January 1 this year that stipend will be hiked with retrospective effect from August 2018. Except for assurances, we have received nothing," said a MARD official. Some institutes have not even paid a stipend to doctors in the last four months citing unavailability of funds."

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 08, 2019 09:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).