Delhi doctors join strike for safe working places
New Delhi: Around 15000 resident doctors across 40 government Hospitals in Delhi, joined the Maharashtra resident doctors and called a mass leave today on Thursday from 9am-4pm, in support of their peers, who are demanding adequate protection at workplace so that doctors can work with out fear. While emergencies were working, OPDs of these 40 hospitals apart from AIIMS, New Delhi remained shut as doctors gathered outside in the respective compounds of the hospitals demanding safety against violence with doctors.
Resident doctors at AIIMS New Delhi have already showed their support to Maha Doctors by wearing helmets to the hospital on Wednesday.
In a show of solidarity with the Maharashtra’s protesting doctors, Delhi’s prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences’ (AIIMS) doctors, are registering protest in a rather unique way highlighting the lack of security measures provided to the resident doctors.
The AIIMS doctors have not discontinued their work and are serving patients, the only difference is that they are now turning up at emergency and casualty wards wearing helmets.
The doctors here in AIIMS said that instead of providing security measures to the resident doctors, the government officials are threatening them to deduct salary, which is bizarre.
The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) has expressed their support to the doctors in Maharashtra. The association, which is an umbrella body of all resident doctors in Delhi, has decided to go on mass leave if any action is taken against the doctors in Maharashtra. Dr Pankaj Solanki, President, FORDA, told Mail Today, “About 40,000 resident doctors of at least 40 hospitals have decided to go on mass leave on Thursday between 9 am to 4 pm. Only emergency duty schedule of resident doctors will be followed during this time. We have taken this step in view of increasing number of assaults on doctors and showing solidarity towards our colleagues from Maharashtra. And we condemn the action taken by government of Maharashtra against doctors.”
A senior doctor, from a government hospital, requesting anonymity informed Mail Today, “About 1,500-2,000 operations planned for tomorrow (Thursday) would be postponed. We don’t want to go on mass leave which will affect patients but we are helpless. Now, if capital would be burning, definitely government will wake up. “The incident at Maharashtra is so grim that instead of providing security to resident doctors at their workplace, Maharashtra government is threatening them.”
“Our fellow doctors are beaten up and government is reluctant to take any action. What we want is just safe environment at our workplace,” Dr Vijay Gurjar, President, Resident doctors’ Association of AIIMS told Mail Today
