Resident docs of three central hosps boycott routine, emergency services

New Delhi: Resident doctors of the Centre-run RML, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge hospitals boycotted all routine and emergency services from Monday in support of a nationwide protest called by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) against the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling.

Amid the protests by the resident doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to stop the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling.

Expressing concern over manpower shortage in the health care scenario especially with the impending third wave, and amid detection of cases of Omicron variant, the body said it is disastrous to note the postponement of NEET PG admission in medical colleges.

"This will be resulting in a shortage of almost two batches of Post Graduates, one appearing for the exam and one batch waiting for admission, resulting in nearly one lakh of the young resident doctors not available to tackle the crises. IMA demands the Government of India to proactively involve in this issue of PG admission and ensure it without further delay — the PG admission should be done on a war footing. It will be too late to tackle the Covid crisis if we postpone the PG admission," the doctors' body said.

In a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the FORDA on December 4 had said healthcare institutions across the country are running short of an adequate workforce of resident doctors, with no admission in the current academic year yet.

"With the possibility of future COVID-19 pandemic wave looming large, the situation will be disastrous for the healthcare sector with its bearing on the country's population," it said.

As the resident doctors boycotted work, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) is learnt to have visited the Safdarjung hospital where he appealed to the resident doctors for calling off the protest, but they

refused.