NEET PG protest: Resident doctors suspend strike for a week

The NEET PG counselling process was delayed repeatedly due to a bunch of cases in the Supreme Court over economic reservations.

Resident doctors from hospitals associated with medical colleges have decided to suspend by a week the nationwide strike to protest delays in the NEET postgraduate counselling process, after the Union health ministry issued a plea for the court hearing in the matter to be fast-tracked.

New Delhi, Dec 09 (ANI): Resident doctors of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital hold a protest march against the repeated postponement of the NEET-PG 2021 counselling, at RML Hospital, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo) (Ishant Kumar)

The NEET PG counselling process was delayed repeatedly due to a bunch of cases in the Supreme Court over economic reservations.

“A plea was issued by the MoHFW [Union ministry of health and family welfare] to fast-track the court hearing and we were assured by the health minister that the office of the Prime Minister is also looking after the issue and the process will be completed within a week. Considering the above and looking at the security situation of the nation owing to the untimely demise of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and other Army personnel in a tragic accident yesterday [on Wednesday], FORDA has decided to [put on] hold the agitation for a period of one week,” said a release from the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA), one of the two national associations co-ordinating the nationwide protest.

The other association, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), in a statement said it had called off the strike and will continue a “symbolic protest”.

“With the government showing positive response from their side to fast track the process, FAIMA and many of our associated state RDAs are currently not in favour of continuing our agitation at the cost of patients’ lives. We have decided to call off the nationwide strike and withdrawal of services, and continue our symbolic protest by wearing black badges and demonstrations.”

The Union director general of health services Dr Sunil Kumar in a doctors’ WhatsApp group said he appreciated the decision.

The move comes on the 13th day of the doctors’ strike, which started with them withdrawing from out-patient clinics, followed by other routine services such as treatment of patients admitted to the hospital and planned surgeries. Doctors from many of Delhi’s major hospitals, such as Safdarjung and Dr Ram Manohar Lohia withdrew from emergency work on Monday, with patients being turned away or referred to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) or Lok Nayak hospital.

Doctors from Lok Nayak and Guru Teg Bahadur hospitals, two of the biggest Delhi government hospitals that were running their emergency departments, also withdrew from emergency work on Thursday morning.

The doctors have been protesting delays in NEET PG counseling that has resulted in a one-third decrease in the number of resident doctors in the hospitals, resulting in the others being overworked. It has also resulted in over 42,000 medical students being left in a lurch over their education.