Resident doctors seek PM’s intervention

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24

Standing behind their colleagues in Maharsahtra, resident doctors in the national Capital today sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention into their concerns over security inside hospitals warning if issues remain “unresolved” they will be forced to go for a “complete shutdown” of services.

“No more assurances”, but concrete solution,” said the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) in its memorandum to the PM and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

The development came on a day when their striking counterparts in Maharshtra refused to buy any “assurances” from the state government even after Union Health Minister JP Nadda today appealing them to resume duty saying he has asked the state governments to respond proactively and ensure adequate security to doctors inside hospitals.

Nadda also took up the matter with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) which in the evening called off the agitation following an assurance by the Maharashtra government of resolving all issues raised within 15 days

“We received a call from officials of the Union Health Ministry saying the Health Minister (Nadda) considers the issue serious and taken up the matter on urgency basis. IMA appealed to the doctors to resume their duties but resident doctors have refused to return to work. They are asking for implementation of the assurances. We are keeping our fingers crossed and waiting for the Maharsahtra government to act. We are going to hold a meeting over the meeting for our future course of action,” said Dr Pankaj Solanki, president of FORDA.

“After a series of happenings today at national level, the IMA protest against assault on doctors at multiple places, especially in Maharashtra was called off,” said Dr K K Aggarwal, IMA president.

In its memorandum to the PM, FORDA has drawn attention to the recent spate of assaults on doctors by attendants in Delhi and across the country pointing out that "no conviction" has taken place in the city over the last two years.

“We doctors are very much agitated in view of increasing number of assaults on doctors. In the last one and half years there have been more than 50 reported incidents and hundreds of unreported incidents in the capital with doctors while no one has been convicted. And for registering an FIR or even a complaint we have to go under lot of harassment,” read the memorandum to the PM.