The resident doctors who participated in last month's protests against the quota policy will not get any salary for the strike period of 17 days, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said on Wednesday.
The Health Ministry has sent a letter to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and directed it not to pay those resident doctors "who neither worked nor applied for leave" on the days of protests.
"We have to follow the law. And I don't want to set a wrong precedent. However, their pay will not be cut if the Supreme Court says so," Ramadoss said.
The letter was despatched to AIIMS June 12 but the directive will be applicable to all resident doctors across the country who went on strike to protest against the Government's decision to implement 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in institutes of higher learning.
Meanwhile, resident doctors alleged that the move was a violation of the order of the Supreme Court. "Since we called off our strike within the three-day period given by the Supreme Court, the government should also respect the apex court directive against any punitive action," said Kushal Kant Mishra, a resident doctor of AIIMS.
Resident doctors of all five medical colleges in Delhi were contemplating "to take up the issue with the apex court".
{{/usCountry}}Resident doctors of all five medical colleges in Delhi were contemplating "to take up the issue with the apex court".
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