Junior doctors' stir to continue, talks with Health minister inconclusive

New Delhi: Junior doctors protesting the delay in college allotments of postgraduate medical students in Delhi said on Tuesday that they will continue their agitation as talks with Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya remained inconclusive.

Following the detailed meeting with the delegation of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA), he said all requisite steps are being taken by the government and a suitable reply with respect to the EWS report will be submitted to Supreme Court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6.

At the meeting with the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) on Tuesday evening, Mandaviya asked them to call off their strike. Sources said the ministry has assured that the report of a three-member committee, formed to review the EWS quota, will be placed before the court during the January 6 hearing.

The Health minister has also expressed regret about Monday's confrontation between the Delhi Police and resident doctors, sources said.

"Our resident doctors have been protesting for the last few days over the delay in NEET-PG counselling. I held a meeting with a delegation of the protesting doctors at Nirman Bhawan to resolve the issue," the minister said.

"We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. The government of India will submit a reply to the apex court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. We request the court to expedite the issue so that the counselling can be started at the earliest," he noted. Mandaviya also expressed gratitude to the resident doctors and healthcare workers for the exemplary work done by them during the Covid crisis.

However, in a statement, FORDA said: "After discussion with RDA representatives, it has been decided to continue the agitation till our demands are met."

Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, even as police personnel were deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order.

The protest, a day earlier had taken a dramatic turn, as medics and police personnel had faced off in streets, with both sides claiming several persons suffered an injury in the ensuing melee.