Resident doctors of government-run hospitals on Monday called for a complete shutdown of all health care institutions starting Monday after they have been detained by the Delhi Police. The doctor's body, in an official statement, said that they were “brutally thrashed, dragged, and detained” by the police.
The doctors were marching towards the Supreme Court when they were stopped by the police, said the doctor's body. They were detained and later released, a statement from the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) stated.
The resident doctors across the nation have been protesting since November 27 against the multiple postponement of the NEET PG Counselling 2021 exam and the subsequent admission of the fresh batch of resident doctors in the medical colleges.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi slammed the Modi government for the police action against resident doctors in the national capital who took to the streets to protest the delay in NEET-PG counselling.
FORDA, in its Twitter handle, also showed police personnel and protesters grappling with each other, with a police bus seen in the background.
However, police denied any allegations of lathicharge or use of abusive language from their end and said 12 protestors were detained and released later.
They said for over six to eight hours, the protestors blocked the ITO road. Repeated requests were made to them to move away from the spot, but they continued to jam the road. Later, both the carriageways of the ITO Marg were also blocked by the protestors, according to the police.
"We spoke to the association members and tried to sort out the issue, but they continued to block the roads," a police official said.
News agency PTI reported, quoting the police, while the protestors were being removed from the roads, they tried to tear the uniform of the police personnel. They even broke the glasses of police vehicle and misbehaved with the forces.
On December 6, the RDAs had boycotted the emergency and the routine services in hospitals. However, the federation suspended their agitation for one week after getting a positive assurance from the health ministry on December 9.
'Lack of manpower even in times of need'
"Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, admission to various courses in NEET PG 2021 has been delayed indefinitely. The residents are carrying both Covid and non-Covid services tirelessly in the last one-and-a-half years and exhausted both physically and mentally," said the doctors' body in a release earlier.
"They have been waiting patiently till date for some positive outcome of the Supreme Court proceedings in the matter of already delayed NEET PG 2021 counselling. However, there seems no respite to their physical and mental distress, with the next court hearing scheduled on January 6, 2022."
“To mark our protest against these repeated delays and postponement in counseling, we the residents of ABVIMS and Dr RML hospital decide to withdraw OPD services on Saturday, 27 November, 2021 onwards, including Sunday OPDs" RML RDA said in a letter to the hospital administration.
The doctors' associations demanded the government and the top court to take necessary measures to expedite the NEET PG counseling and admission process, and to fast-track the court proceedings.
A larger number of students, mostly pursuing postgraduation at Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) gathered in front of the office of the Medical Superintendent at its attached facility, LNJP Hospital, run by Delhi government to voice their concern over the issue, a senior doctor at the hospital said.
"They were about 70-80 in number, and gathered outside MD office in the portico area, and voiced their concern," she said, adding OPD services were not affected at LNJP Hospital.
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