Delhi Doctors to protest over salary dues on October 27, IMA calls it 'system failure'

Doctors from several Delhi government hospitals including RML Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital and Maulana Azad Medical College will stage a two-hour symbolic protest on Tuesday, informed an official. This symbolic protest will be held in connection with the non-payment of salary of Hindu Rao Hospital Doctors. 

IMA Steps in 

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) termed the issue of non-payment of salary as a 'case of system failure' while adding that the situation in Delhi's Hindu Rao Hospital was not just an isolated issue. IMA said that the doctors deserve incentives and accolades for their services amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Further adding that the doctors should not have to take to roads in order to receive their 'legitimate salaries'. IMA also termed the incident a result of 'rotten' governance and 'state-sponsored violence'. 

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Calling the concerned officials 'insensitive', IMA said, "Indian Medical Association takes serious exception to the unfortunate situation in Hindhu (Hindu) Rao Hospital which is under the management of Delhi Municipal Corporation. It sends a wrong message to the profession and the nation. It demoralizes the entire doctor community."

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IMA further added that the doctors are a 'national asset' and said, "If their (doctors) services are so dispensable during a pandemic something is really rotten in the way we are governed. It is a new low in governance."

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In an official press release, IMA demanded that the concerned authorities pay the doctors of the Delhi hospital their salaries along with their dues immediately. Speaking further about the alleged non-payment of the salary for three months of the Resident doctors of the Delhi's Hindu Rao Hospital, IMA pointed out Supreme Court's order which specifically directed the authorities to pay the dues and salaries of doctors and health care workers on time. IMA said that this seems like an 'adequate reason for the Court to initiate Suo Moto contempt proceedings against the administration of Hindu Rao Hospital while adding that the 'writ of the Highest Court of the land' does not seem to bother the administration. 

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More on Doctor's protests in Delhi 

The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) Medical College and Hindu Rao Hospital went on an indefinite strike on Friday over the non-payment of salaries amid COVID-19 induced lockdown. The doctors from the NDMC run-Hindu Rao Hospital have been protesting since a few week, but as per the RDA, no step was taken to resolve the issue of the non-payment of salaries and dues. On Sunday, the doctors of the Hindu Rao Hospital took to streets and demonstrated at Delhi's Connaught Place. An effigy of Ravana was also burnt on the premises of the facility by the doctors in order to draw the attention of the concerned authorities to their issues.  

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(With inputs from ANI & PTI)