Hindu Rao docs’ boycott call: Delhi govt to shift corona patients

After corporation-run Hindu Rao Hospital doctors decided to withdraw from COVID duties to protest non-payment of dues, the Delhi government decided to shift COVID patients to state-run hospitals, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Saturday.

Jain said that in view of the proposed move by doctors from Sunday morning, COVID patients would be shifted from Hindu Rao to other hospitals under Delhi government jurisdiction.

Jain also slammed the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (North MCD) for not disbursing the salaries of the agitating doctors for months. "The MCD should immediately pay the salaries of doctors who have made huge sacrifices during coronavirus pandemic," he added.

However, the corporation is yet to release the salaries.

The Resident Doctors of NDMC-run Hindu Rao had threatened to stop COVID services from 9 am on Sunday if they did not get salaries of over four months.

The doctors and nursing staff at the hospital are on partial "symbolic indefinite strike" since Monday wherein they refrained from all services, except emergency, and protested daily for two hours in the morning over non-payment of their salaries due since June.

The Resident Doctors Association leaders had told IANS that the decision to strike work was taken after their protests did not yield result.

"We held a discussion with hospital administration and NDMC officials, who told us that we will be paid our dues within 60 days. We are managing without salaries for four months now. How are we even going to survive without money? We have been forced to take this decision to strike work," Abhimanyu Sardana, President of RDA, Hindu Rao Hospital, said.

Hindu Rao Hospital is the largest municipal hospital in Delhi with 900 beds and is a dedicated COVID-19 facility. Many of its healthcare workers had contracted the infection earlier.