Maharashtra: 45,000 Doctors Burn Their Registration Certificate Replicas To Protest Against Govt Policies

Mehab Qureshi

Pune, September 13, 2020:A protest was held all over Maharashtra on Friday by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) agitating against the Department of Public Health’s decision of not increasing the charges of COVID beds, informed IMA Maharashtra president Dr Avinash Bhondwe.

Around 45,000 doctors from 216 branches of IMA Maharashtra protested by burning the replicas of their registration certificates on September 11.”IMA feels that this is an encroachment on their right to fix hospital rates; the Government of Maharashtra has consistently ignored IMA Maharashtra State, regarding every fair demand and complaint it made from time to time”, said Bhondwe.

Demands of IMA

Hospitals in Maharashtra should sustain, and the health department shouldn’t impose unaffordable hospitals’ rates by threatening them.

New rates should be revised after consultation with IMA members.

Auditors should not be sent to Non-COVID hospitals. Doctors should be provided with PPE kits, masks of good quality at a reasonable rate.

The threat of social attacks has been increasing; doctors and health professionals should be provided with security.

Moreover, Doctors are not criminals, so the police should handle any threats given to doctors.

Also, Doctors should not be defamed, saying that they only extract money from patients.

The benefits of Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Yojana should be given to the hospitals with immediate effect.

The district administration should hold regular meetings with IMA members.

Lastly, all the doctors should be given Rs 50 lakh of insurance for treating COVID patients.