Maharashtra doctors end strike after assurance from CM

Chavan told reporters that most of the demands of MAGMO had been accepted earlier and the government is positive on some of the issues raised by them.

On demands which are deadlocked, a proposal would be brought in the Cabinet and efforts would be made to resolve them, he said.
  
MAGMO president Rajesh Gaikwad, who was on hunger strike for the last six days, said on the assurance of Chief Minister the organisation was withdrawing the agitation.
  
"We apologise to the people for the hardships caused for the last six days," he said and assured that the medical officers would work two hours extra daily for next few days.

Gaikwad broke his hunger strike with juice offered to him by the Chief Minister.
  
"We agreed to call off our strike after we were assured by the Chief Minister that all our demands would be accepted by the state in the next 2-3 months," MAGMO's state coordinator Pramod Sonawane said.

A ‘promotional channel’ will be opened for BAMS doctors, where they will be regularly given promotions, he said.
  
"The state government is ready to open a promotional channel for BAMS A group doctors who hold the post of additional district health officers. The BAMS group B doctors, who are currently working on contractual basis, will be made permanent," Sonawane added.
  
The Chief Minister has also agreed to consider the demand of providing back-dated benefits to doctors, adding that a final decision on it will be taken after the state Cabinet meeting, he said adding that the state government has also agreed to consider their demand for an 8-hour working schedule for all medical officers.

"The state government has also told us that the retirement age for doctors would be increased from 58 to 62," he said, adding that all doctors who were suspended following their participation in strike will be reinstated.

  
Meanwhile, a senior official from the public health department said 1,418 medical officers working on ad hoc basis (temporary) were included in service in 2009 as a special case, after they signed a bond that they will not demand benefits and perks during their temporary service.
  
All 1,418 medical officers had signed the bond but later they went back on their word. "The demand for benefits with retrospective effect is not right. The government is positively considering all their other demands," the official said.

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"There should be justice for the families of the two teenage girls and for all the women and girls from lower caste communities who are targeted and raped in rural India. Violence against women is not a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue," Resident Coordinator of UN system in India Lise Grande said.

UN Chief Ban Ki-moon too had called the recent incidents of violence towards women in India and Pakistan "appalling".

"In recent days we have also seen other tragic incidents in which women have been the targets of appalling violence – from Pakistan to India to California and Nigeria. The world will never find true peace and prosperity if half the population face discrimination and exploitation," Ban had said in remarks made to reporters in Toronto last week.

The UN system in India said ending violence against women and girls is a fundamental goal of the world body and assured its support to people across the country to do what it takes to ensure that every woman and every girl can live safely and with dignity everywhere.

"Every girl and woman should be able to live safely, feel protected and grow up free of violence," UN Women's Representative in India Rebecca Tavares said.

"Amongst the many actions that need to be taken, the UN encourages the speedier application of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2013, including the establishment of the one-stop crisis centres. The justice system is key to addressing the problem," Tavares said.

Grande noted that many "progressive reforms and changes" have been put in place following the brutal gang-rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi in December 2013 but stressed the need for implementing the laws meant for the protection of girls and women.

"But having the laws in place are only one part of the solution – their implementation also matters as does changing mind-sets. Violence against women and girls is preventable, not inevitable. Sustained implementation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), 2012 and the setting up of Special Courts and child friendly procedures for victims under 18 years of age are also key priorities," Grande added.

The latest brutal act of violence against the girls in UP also highlights the dangers girls and women all over India are exposed to due to the lack of toilets.

UNICEF's Representative to India Louis-Georges Arsenault said around 65 percent of rural population in India defecates in the open and women and girls are expected to go out at
night. "This does not only threaten their dignity, but their safety as well," Arsenault said.

Last week, UN had described as a ‘horrendous crime’ and strongly condemned the incident and stressed that all citizens should be protected by the law.

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