Protesting North MCD doctors warn of hunger strike if unpaid

Hindu Rao doctors are on an indefinite strike for the past 12 days while their counterparts from the other two hospitals joined a week ago.

More than a hundred resident doctors and paramedical staff from three North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals -- Hindu Rao, Kasturba Gandhi and Rajan Babu Tuberculosis (RBTB) Hospital -- staged a protest at Jantar Mantar Thursday morning -- threatening to go on a hunger strike if their pending salaries were not paid at the earliest.

Doctors and medical staff of Hindu Rao Hospital and Kasturba Gandhi Hospital protest against the Municipal Corporation of Delh (MCD) over salary dues, at Jantar Mantar . (Arvind Yadav/HT PHOTO)

Hindu Rao doctors are on an indefinite strike for the past 12 days while their counterparts from the other two hospitals joined a week ago.

Around 250 resident doctors from Hindu Rao had begun a daily three-hour pen down strike from September 22 within the hospital premises. On October 10, they went on a complete indefinite strike to press for their demands.

The Hindu Rao resident doctors’ association (RDA) said while they attend to patients at the emergency wing when senior consultants are not available, they have completely withdrawn from the outpatient department services.

At Jantar Mantar, the protesters raised slogans against the cash-strapped BJP-ruled municipal corporation, which has been unable to disburse salaries to the medical staff after June this year.

Around 500 resident doctors from the three hospitals said they will continue their strike till their dues are paid. Hindu Rao is the largest hospital run by the civic body.

According to staffers, the OPD services have been hit at the three hospitals because of the agitation. Corporation officials said while emergency and OPD services have been functional at Hindu Rao and Kasturba, services at RBTB Hospital were affected on Thursday morning and resumed late in the afternoon.

The Hindu Rao doctors association said the hospital has stopped taking admissions even in the emergency wing and is referring patients to other facilities.

“After we went on an indefinite strike, the hospital has stopped taking any admissions. They cannot run the hospital without the resident doctors. We are just asking for our dues. How are we expected to keep working without being paid for months? How are we supposed to run our houses? We have been on Covid duty, risking our lives and still not being paid,” said Dr Abhimanyu Sardana, president of the Hindu Rao resident doctors association.

The 980-bedded Hindu Rao Hospital was removed from the list of designated Covid-19 facilities on October 14 due to low bed occupancy. The Delhi government had on the same day ordered shifting of Covid patients from Hindu Rao to different government facilities.

Holding a placard that read ‘I deserve to be paid’, Dr Adhiman Gupta of Kasturba Hospital said doctors are only asking for their basic right. “The central government has been saying doctors are corona warriors but has not taken any cognisance of the same doctors and other staff not being paid for months,” Gupta said.

“Everyone has EMIs or rents to pay. We are forced to strike as we have run out of savings...There’s no assurance when we will get our dues,” said Santosh Singh, a nursing staff at Kasturba Hospital.

North Corporation mayor Jai Prakash said the agitation has become a political gimmick. He said the salaries of doctors for July was disbursed on Wednesday while paramedics have been paid till June.

“Only the contractual resident doctors are on strike while all senior doctors are working and providing adequate healthcare services. I have already had a series of discussions with the protesting resident doctors and the paramedic staff. They are taking undue advantage of their rights. I already sought time till November 30 to pay the dues,” Prakash said.