E-Paper
31 doctors hired for Ramlila ground Covid facility disengaged from duty
New Delhi: Thirty-one junior resident doctors who were hired to work at Ramlila ground Covid care facility attached to Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) for three months, have been disengaged from duties days after they joined
New Delhi: Thirty-one junior resident doctors who were hired to work at Ramlila ground Covid care facility attached to Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) for three months, have been disengaged from duties days after they joined. While the doctors alleged they were removed due to disagreements over “payments”, hospital authorities said their services were not required since Covid-19 cases have been on the decline in the national capital.
The hospital earlier this month appointed 136 junior resident doctors on a per-day and per-shift basis at the 500-bed facility, initially for a three-month period, and doctors joined between May 10 and May 15. On Sunday, however, the GTB hospital issued an order saying the services of at least 31 of these doctors were terminated immediately.
Dr Nitin Bagari, one of the residents who was discharged, said, “The authorities hired us for three months. However, we have been removed from duty within days of joining, without any prior notice. I joined the facility only on May 12.” Dr Bagari recently completed his MBBS programme and internship.
Another junior resident, who asked not to be named, said, “Some of us recently raised an issue regarding the night shift. We demanded that it be counted as a double shift and we be paid accordingly. Within days, authorities removed us from duty.”
GTB hospital officials rejected these claims.
“The doctors were hired on a daily honorarium basis to manage Covid-19 cases during the peak. They were to be hired for a maximum of three months but not necessarily so. Right now, cases have gone down and we cannot justify having so many doctors. Interns from GTB hospital have now been diverted to manage any patients admitted in the facility,” said a senior official from the hospital administration, asking not to be named.
Meanwhile, the 31 doctors said they plan to protest against the move at the Covid facility on Tuesday. “We will gather to ask authorities why we were removed so abruptly,” said Dr Bagari.
