As many as 1,800 doctors and nurses from Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and government medical colleges were put on election duty on May 19 and 20. A letter stating this order was sent to the city's public sector medical fraternity, this left the staff into tizzy.
Doctors and nurses opposed the imposition of election duty when health care is an essential service. After this agitation increased, Mumbai Suburban Collector Rajendra Kshirsagar has canceled the orders given to the doctors and nurses on Wednesday, March 27.
This was the first instance of giving voting tasks to health workers from medical institutes including JJ, KEM, Sion, BYL Nair, RN Cooper and Nair Dental in Mumbai.
Nearly 900 doctors and nurses from KEM Hospital, 250 from Sion, 278 from Cooper Hospital, 220 from Nair Hospital, 35 from Nair Dental and 48 from JJ have received election duty letters. In some colleges, up to 85 per cent of the permanent staff were allocated voting functions. They were also to be given a one-day training in the first two weeks of May.
Health workers received these letters on Tuesday, March 26.
Senior officials who got letters include Director of major hospitals and Dean of Nair Dental Dr. Dr. Neelam Andrade, Dean of KEM, Sangeeta Rawat and Dean of Sion Hospital Dr. Mohan Joshi, Deputy Deans, Additional and Assistant Deans, Heads of Departments, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors were given the role of Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding Officers.
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