After extending his support to striking interns on Monday, Aaditya Thackeray arranged for, and accompanied them to, a meeting with the CM yesterday
After extending his support to striking interns on Monday, Aaditya Thackeray arranged for, and accompanied them to, a meeting with the CM yesterday
The hunger strike initiated by medical interns to press for an increase in stipend is fast assuming a decidedly political colour. Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray had jumped into the fray on Day 1 of the strike (Monday) by pledging his support to the students and yesterday saw the striking interns meeting Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan accompanied by the Sena cub. 
Hunger strike: Officials rush one of the interns to the hospital after
he collapsed during the protest.
Thirty-four members of the Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) had gone on a hunger strike on Monday demanding that their monthly stipend be increased from Rs 2,550 to Rs 13,000, with a subsequent increase of Rs 1,000 every year. They justify the strike saying that the cost of living in Maharashtra is the highest in the country and repeated pleas to review the stipend had fallen on deaf ears.
Thackeray had visited the striking doctors on Monday and he arranged for them to meet the CM yesterday. "The representatives of ASMI and I met the CM and he has agreed that their cause is genuine. He has promised that a solution will be found in a day or two. I believe that the interns' demand is a just one. These students work round the clock and are given a stipend that can barely see them through a day," Thackeray told MiD-DAY.
Hospitalisation
Meanwhile, eight of the striking doctors were rushed to KEM hospital yesterday after suffering from dehydration and low sugar levels. Three of them were in the medical intensive care unit of the hospital till the time of going to press. Rupesh Bhangeu00a0 and Prashant Kannake from the Government Medical College (GMC) in Yavatmal and Yadnesh Jadhavu00a0 from the GMC in Miraz were hospitalised in the afternoon and Sanjay Pandhram, Vishwajit Gaikwad, Vasant Bhosle, Sunil Pawar and Pallavi Priya were hospitalised later in the evening.
"The only way to open the eyes of the state authorities was to go on a hunger strike. Our interns fell ill but they denied treatment. They got admitted to KEM hospital only after the police forced them to do so," Ankush Nawale, spokesperson, ASMI.
Asked about political parties joining their stir, Mayur Ambekar, coordinator, ASMI, who is an intern at Sion Hospital, said, "It is not only the Shiv Sena, other political parties have helped us in our strike as well. If the state government does not pay heed to our demands till noon tomorrow, even the resident doctors' association will join our strike."
The Other Side
Dr Pravin Shingare, deputy director, Directorate of Medical Education and Research, said, "Our office is open for negotiations, but the interns are not coming forward to talk. If the strike starts affecting poor patients, we will take stern action against the interns. The students are adamant on a stipend of Rs 13,000, but there is need for negotiations."u00a0
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