Talking to mediapersons after the weekly cabinet meeting, Deshmukh appealed to the striking resident doctors affiliated to the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) to agree to a package deal arrived at through negotiations. The resident doctors in the state get a stipend of Rs 4,600 to Rs 6,000, while those in other states get Rs 15,000.

The demand for parity with other states cannot be fulfilled now as the state is under much financial strain, he stated.

``Our doors are open for negotiations, and Health Minister Digvijay Khanvilkar is leaving no no stone unturned to ensure patients are treated in the OPDs in all hospitals,'' Deshmukh said.

Asked if he would interfere to end the deadlock, Deshmukh said he ``would do so at the right time.'' The government has no intention of breaking the strike nor is it contemplating action against striking doctors, he added.

``We would not like the strike to continue for long,'' he said, adding the government was not denying that the strike had affected public health services.

Meanwhile, the indefinite strike by resident doctors entered its third day today with no sign of any negotiations between them and the state government.

MARD spokesperson Dr Rajas Deshpande said MARD would continue with the strike for six months, if necessary.

Meanwhile, municipal commissioner K Nalinakshan today reiterated that health services in civic hospitals had not been affected due to the strike. He visited the KEM, Nair and Sion hospitals today to assess the impact of the strike.``We are not sending any patients back,'' he claimed.