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North MCD doctors urge L-G to file FIR over unpaid salaries
In the letter addressed to LG Anil Baijal, the Municipal Corporation Doctors’ Association wrote, “MCDA requests your goodself to implement the order… by filing an FIR against the authorities responsible for non-payment of our salaries.”
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A day after resident doctors of Hindu Rao hospital, a designated Covid facility, went on a strike over unpaid wages, senior doctors of north corporation-run hospitals urged the lieutenant-governor of Delhi to file an FIR against “authorities” for not paying their salaries for the last three months.
In the letter addressed to LG Anil Baijal, the Municipal Corporation Doctors’ Association wrote, “MCDA requests your goodself to implement the order… by filing an FIR against the authorities responsible for non-payment of our salaries.” The doctors were last paid for the month of June.
The order the letter refers to is the one sent by the union health ministry in June this year to all states. It “directed the states and UTs to ensure that salaries of doctors and health workers during Covid-19 related duty shall be released on time and the violation of which will be treated as an offence under the Disaster Management Act”.
“The union health ministry order says non-payment of salaries will be an offence. We are just asking them how will the order be implemented, who would file the FIR, who should it be against? We are asking the LG to implement the order – either file an FIR or give us our salaries,” Dr RR Gautam, president of the association, said.
The L-G office did not respond to requests for a comment.
The organisation represents 2,000 doctors from five hospitals run by the north Delhi municipal corporation as well as clinics, maternity centres, and dispensaries under it.
Hindu Rao is one of the five hospitals run by the north corporation and the only one to treat Covid-19 patients, which were moved to Delhi government-run hospitals on Saturday ahead of the resident doctors’ strike.
The other four hospitals run by the North Corporation are Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis, Maharshi Valmiki Infectious Disease hospital, Kasturba Hospital, and Giridhari Lal hospital.
Kasturba hospital doctors had earlier gone a strike for nearly 20 days to get their salaries for June.
“We are not going on a strike at the moment because it will hamper patient care. We are hoping the government will pay our dues after this letter. However, if no action is taken, we will be forced to join the strike of the resident doctors,” said Dr Maruti Sinha, general secretary of the association .
“The corporation currently does not have the money to pay salaries, we are working to get the funds in place. Our priority is to pay the doctors, health care workers and sanitation workers,” said North DMC mayor Jai Prakash.
Meanwhile, even as more than 250 resident doctors continued their strike for the second day, the hospital has started preparations to open up for non-Covid-19 patients.
Jai Prakash had earlier told HT that patients were moved on Saturday not because of the strike. He said Hindu Rao hospital had been receiving very few Covid-19 cases and could utilise its services better as a non-Covid hospital.
The hospital had been designated as a dedicated Covid facility in mid-June after a spike in cases.
