Protest by resident doctors in Delhi entered into its 14th day on Thursday as their demands are yet to be met. “Since our demands of expediting NEET-PG Counselling and withdrawal of FIR have not been met by the concerned authorities yet, we have decided to continue the agitation,” The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) said in a release yesterday late night. The stir has even intensified as several other RDAs have joined doctors protesting in the national capital. This comes days after Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandviya held a meeting with representatives of FORDA and assured them that counselling process for NEET PG will be expedited.
#PressRelease: Since the demand to #ExpediteNEETPGCounselling2021 & to withdraw #FIR against #ResidentDoctors have not been met by concerned authorities, it has been decided to continue the agitation @PMOIndia @mansukhmandviya @Drvirendrakum13 @ANI @MirrorNow @LiveLawIndia @ndtv pic.twitter.com/96OOEG0PxG
— FORDA INDIA (@FordaIndia) December 29, 2021
Meanwhile, patient care was affected at several major hospitals on Wednesday in the national capital. Members of the resident doctors association of the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital (RGSSH) have ‘withdrawn services’ to protest the alleged police ‘brutality’ on medics when they were taking out a peaceful protest march in Delhi. The RGSSH comes under the administration of the Delhi government and is considered to be among facilities that are treating COVID-19 patients in the city.
Commenting on it, a senior official of the hospital said that senior and junior resident doctors have decided to boycott the services but the hospital administration is trying to compensate with consultants and doing everything to make sure that patient care is not much affected.
Resident doctors of the Northern Railway Central Hospital and Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya – both considered to be one of the busiest facilities in the city – also joined the protest and boycotted services.
Visuals of doctors holding placards like ‘Black day for medical fraternity’, ‘Counseling karao, doctors bulao’ emerged on social media platforms. At several locations, protesting doctors chanted slogans – ‘we want justice’.
Patient care was also affected at some other Delhi government-run hospitals and Center-run facilities like Lady Hardinge, Safdarjung, and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospitals.
