New Delhi
“In the first wave, we didn’t have PPE kits, in the second there was a shortage of oxygen and be aware that the third wave will witness a serious shortage of doctors if the admissions are not concluded urgently,” Anuj Agrawal, general secretary of the Safdarjung Hospital’s Resident Doctors’ Association told Gaon Connection.
Agrawal, today, on December 28, participated in a protest at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital which was organised by thousands of doctors like him from government hospitals such as the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Lady Hardinge, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Maulana Azad Hospital and University College Of Medical Sciences (USMC).
The protesting health workers demanded that the counselling of medical students for the NEET-PG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for postgraduate courses) should be undertaken at the earliest.
What is the doctors’ protest about?
Agrawal highlighted that the delay in concluding the admission procedure has led to a ‘shortage of 33 per cent of doctors’ workforce’ and has ‘overburdened the resident doctors in the second and third year’.
“After NEET-PG exams, new doctors join in May or June. In all hospitals across the nation, at one point of time, there are three functional batches of doctors but since the last nine months, merely two batches have been working,” he added.
Talking about the overburdened doctors, he said, “There is a dearth of approximately 50,000 doctors in the country right now. If there are no doctors in the hospital, who will take care of the patients. We have been working for 80-100 hours per week and are exhausted.”
Also, today, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with the representatives of protesting resident doctors and requested them to call off the protest.
“The government is unable to take the counselling forward since the matter is sub-judice and is pending in the Supreme Court. He also added that the government is taking necessary steps to reply with respect to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) report that is supposed to be submitted to the apex court on the hearing on January 6, 2022,” the health minister added.
What do the doctors demand?
Vinay Kumar, a resident doctor at AIIMS told Gaon Connection that the NEET-PG admission test which is usually conducted in January was held in September this year after a delay of almost eight months as it was postponed as a precautionary measure to contain the outbreak of COVID19.
While the test was conducted in September, no counselling and admission has taken place since then. The counselling is stuck in judicial alleys as the Supreme Court is yet to take decision on a bunch of cases regarding the newly introduced quota for the candidates belonging to the economically weaker sections.
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The doctors demand that the Indian government should speed up the submission of its report to the Supreme Court regarding the chosen criteria of Rs 8,00,000 annual income eligibility of the quota and conduct the counselling at the earliest for their juniors.
“We also demand that the Health Minister should give a written assurance to the doctors or atleast come to meet them regarding their demands. Wo rallies mei jaate hain pura din to humse milne to aa hi sakte hain (The ministers go around attending rallies, I am sure they can come to meet us once) ,” Swapnil Sangle, a senior resident at Lady Hardinge College, told Gaon Connection.
“We don’t have any political agenda and are not against any kind of reservation. We just want the counselling date to be declared. The government should accelerate the submission of the report in the Supreme Court so that a date for counselling can be fixed,” Sangle added.
Also, Vaishali Gautam, a senior resident doctor at Safdarjung hospital, told Gaon Connection, “We have a strong infrastructure to fight COVID19 however it’s important to note that doctors are not made in a day, it takes time. We are here after studying for 10 years. The third wave is knocking at our doors, we need more doctors to take care of patients. If the government doesn’t act now, we might witness a repeat of the second wave.”
Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association India issued a press statement on December 28 demanding the expedition of NEET-PG counselling 2021. The association stated that it had put forward its demands in a meeting with the health minister and will continue their agitation until their demands are met.
‘Manhandled by police, detained, FIR filed’
As part of their protest yesterday on December 27, the protesters had marched to the Supreme Court but their march was cut short by heavy deployment by the Delhi Police personnel.
Talking about how a peaceful march to the Supreme Court was ‘unfairly’ intercepted, Megha Sangwan, a senior resident at Safdarjung hospital alleged that the doctors were manhandled by the police.
“Despite our peaceful demonstrations, the police detained us and beat us up. Even female doctors weren’t spared — they were dragged by male police officers and detained in buses,” she said.
Talking about the response of the government towards doctors, Sangwan said, “When it suited their interests, they hailed us as COVID warriors and were showering flowers on us. Now that we have a genuine demand, we need doctors to work and they’re treating us like criminals,” she added.
Delhi Police registered a first information report (FIR) under sections of rioting, causing obstruction in duty and damaging public property against the protesting doctors.
