AIIMS, Safdarjung docs call off strike
NEW DELHI: The Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital called off its day-long strike announced in support of the protesting medicos of West Bengal. Resident doctors of AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital had boycotted work on Friday in protest against attacks on their colleagues in Kolkata .
"OPD, wards and other routine operations are non-functional. However, emergency services such as casualty, ICU and emergency ward will not be hampered," said AIIMS's RDA members. Even Delhi Government Healthcare Services continued to remain paralysed for the second consecutive day in the national Capital, with members of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) launching their strike on Saturday.
Doctors from various hospitals, including Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML), GB Pant Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (DDUH), Ambedkar Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) and Hindu Rao Hospital, went on strike in solidarity with the striking doctors of West Bengal.
"According to a decision taken at a general body (GB) meeting on June 14, RDA issued an ultimatum of 48 hours to the West Bengal government to meet the demands of the striking doctors there, failing which we would be forced to resort to an indefinite strike at AIIMS, New Delhi. We hope that our colleagues across the nation will join us in this hour of need," the AIIMS RDA said in a statement.
They expressed their gratitude to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan for his prompt and proactive steps to resolve the impasse. "We sincerely hope that he will address this matter of utmost importance with the urgency that it merits," they said.
Safdarjung Hospital RDA President Parakash Thakur also echoed a a similar stand on the matter. The doctors, however, will continue to wear helmets and bandages at work as a sign of protest.
