Doctors in Delhi continue to protest against the Aam Adami Party-led Delhi Government. In the latest, Doctors at Rajan Babu and Hindu Rao hospitals have announced that they will start a strike from February 6, 2023, over unpaid dues and other longstanding issues. Earlier, doctors at the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD) Kasturba Hospital had issued a strike warning over pending salaries since October 2022.
The resident doctors’ association at both hospitals have written letters to their medical superintendent and medical director saying that they are finding it difficult to pay their house rent, monthly loan instalments, and other needs due to their non-payment of salaries.
“We also feel humiliation, while asking parents and friends for money, despite working in a reputed hospital which is supposed to pay for work we do here. Many of us are sole earners in our families with many dependents,” reported the Indian Express report quoting letters as saying.
Further, they added that due to low bank balances, they were losing out on interest and fined for the negative balance. Along with the delayed salary, anxiety over job insecurity also took a toll, as many were on 44-day contracts.
“We live in fear of losing our job as contract hoc culture is intentionally designed to deprive workers of benefits that come with regular/permanent employment,” the letter added.
Meanwhile, the letter written by doctors at Rajan Babu Institute of Pulmonary Medicine and Tuberculosis and Hindu Rao Hospital also complained about the lack of clean water at the MCD-run hospitals, especially for those, who cannot leave their duty and buy a bottle of water from outside.
Doctors said, “Lack of access to clean water at the workplace adversely affects the working condition. Rat, ticks, mosquito and mould-infested DDRs also contribute to this problem.”
“The hygiene problem is not only limited to the above, but also to the DDRs and toilets in the wards. Both doctors patients, who spend long hours in the hospital, face this this problem. The stray dog menace haunting the hospital and its premises for decades also needs to have a special mention,” they said. Notably, DDR refers to Duty Doctors’ Room, is resident doctors stay during long shifts.
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