For the first time in the history doctors of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and JJ hospital have been summoned for election duty, before the order was rolled back for the BMC doctors. More than 500 doctors were assigned to election duty by the suburban district collector of Mumbai. Including all categories such as clerical staff and nurses, there are more than 1,000 essential service workers from the city hospitals on election duty.

This led to panic among doctors, before the BMC withdrew the order following the uproar. “We cannot refuse treatment to anyone, come what may and we won’t. We are going to oppose this. We have been asked to send around 200 doctors and 600 nurses. That is most of the nursing staff,” said a senior doctor of a BMC-run hospital. The order from the suburban collector contradicts Election Commission of India rules as the latter exempts doctors from election duty.