After Hindu Rao, Doctors Of Delhi's Kasturba Hospital On Strike Over Unpaid Salaries

Resident Doctors Association of North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run Kasturba Hospital has decided to go on strike from Wednesday for a week over non-payment of salaries and threatened to resign if salaries are not disbursed.

AFP

In a letter to the Medical Superintendent, RDA President Sunil Kumar Prasad wrote, "This is for the information that all the resident doctors are going on a total strike for tomorrow onwards due to non-payment of resident doctors' salaries since July 2020."

Unpaid since July 2020

The association added, "We would like to inform you that we will be on strike for the next 7 days or till our all the salaries will be credited. After 20.02.2020, all residents will give mass resignation. Kindly take this letter under consideration since tomorrow onwards all the emergency services will be stopped."

BCCL

This is the second time that the Resident Doctors' Association has gone on a strike.

Earlier this year in June, at the peak of the growing pandemic, the doctors had alleged that their salaries had not been cleared since March, threatening to mass resign if they did not receive salaries soon.

The development comes days after doctors of another NDMC-run hospital, Hindu Rao Hospital withdrew from work on Sunday after the administration failed to meet the deadline for releasing their salaries. More than 200 resident doctors and 300 nursing staff are on an indefinite strike since October 5.

BCCL

On Saturday, the Delhi government had ordered the shifting of all COVID-19 patients from Hindu Rao Hospital to its own facilities due to the strike.

The municipal corporation-run hospital has been a Covid dedicated hospital since June and 23 patients were admitted there last week.

It is not just in Delhi, unpaid salaries and increased workload has been a complaint doctors from across the country have been complaining since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

AFP

Kasturba Hospital's RDA President said that they have been getting irregular salaries from the last four years, but the situation became serious during the coronavirus pandemic. "The matter has now become a mere political football," said Dr. Sunil Kumar Prasad.

He added, "If MCD does not have money, they must arrange it from the Centre or Delhi government. Besides this, the hospital should be handed-over to the Delhi government if MCD is not able to pay off the salaries."

Doctors allege that due to the nonpayment of salaries for months they have been struggling to meet their needs while putting themselves at risk of getting infected with COVID-19 every day.