2,000 resident doctors at AIIMS to go on hunger strike today but won't hamper work

Around 2,000 resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) will go on a protest from Thursday against “improper implementation” seventh central pay commission’s recommendations.

However, the doctors will not hamper their work but will go hungry from Thursday, they said.

The resident doctors have demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention in the matter.

Speaking on the issue, former AIIMS Resident Doctors Association (RDA) president Dr. Vijay Kumar said, “We have remained silent for a long time, hoping for a response from the Health Ministry. But there has been a complete lack of constructive steps taken by the ministry.”

“Being a responsible citizen and a doctor we will not hamper the facilities for patients. In our further action to put our demands forward we will work continuously without consuming food,” Kumar added.

The resident doctors wrote a letter to PM Modi wherein they stated that even one and half years after the implementation of the 7^th CPC recommendations and four months of allowance approval in other medical institutes, the AIIMS doctors here still didn’t get the revised pay because of administrative lapses.

ALSO READ: AIIMS cracks whip, warns staff of disciplinary action if they directly write to PM or ministers on grievances

In the letter, AIIMS RDA president Harjit Singh Bhatti said, “Even after four months of implementation of the revised allowances at the central government institutes like Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital and other autonomous medical institutes like PGI Chandigarh, we are still awaiting a nod from the Health Ministry for getting it implemented here at AIIMS.”

The resident doctors approached the hospital administration but were told that the ministry was not giving them approval but after visiting the ministry, it said that it would take a long time, Bhatti claimed.

Explaining the condition of resident doctors, he said that they are forced to work for more than the mandated 48 hours in a week but are still not getting their rights due to bureaucratic hurdles.

The implementation of the 7^th CPC would help them to carry out their work related to patient care with more zeal and enthusiasm, the RDA said in their letter.

(With PTI inputs)

ALSO READ: AIIMS RDA urges director to recruit psychologists for docs counselling