MUMBAI, Nov. 14 -- Resident doctors at Dr RN Cooper Hospital have threatened to launch a protest called 'bheekh maango andolan' over recurring delays in the disbursal of their monthly stipends, stating that irregular payments disrupt financial planning, loan repayments and daily expenses. Resident doctors in Mumbai receive stipends exceeding Rs.90,000 from medical colleges for their services. "We had to raise our voices and threaten a protest before the stipends were credited to us post-Diwali," said Mayur Choudhary, president of the Cooper unit of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD). Their concerns extend beyond last month's stipends. "When the entire hospital is run by the resident doctors, how is it that our stipends are always delayed? The only other people in our hospitals who do not get their payments on time are the contract housekeeping workers of the hospital, who have not been paid for over two months," Choudhary added. Resident doctors termed this "unfair", noting that senior staff and academic professors receive salaries on the first of every month. Officials told residents that clerical staff had been diverted to SIR duty. "If there is any administrative issue, then how come it tends to affect only us and not the other category of staffers? All other admin and teaching staff receive salaries on 1st of every month but the 225 odd resident docs who run the entire hospital, always receive it randomly anywhere between 10th or 15th of the month," Choudhary said. Dr Vishal Mule noted that timely stipends are vital, as many doctors hail from rural parts of the state and support dependent families. BMC's MARD doctors stated that while Cooper faces frequent delays, conditions at other BMC medical colleges are marginally better. "Stipends tend to be reasonably on time at Nair and Sion Hospital, while they tend to be very delayed at Cooper. Many of us have EMIs and other expenses to handle and regularity would help," said BMC MARD president Rutuja Raut. She added that they had urged Shailesh Mohite, director of BMC's medical education and major hospitals, to ensure disbursals in the first week of each month, and plan to meet the municipal commissioner after Diwali. Mohite and Cooper Hospital medical superintendent Chhaya Shinde did not respond....