Salary woes continue at North MCD hosps
New Delhi: While North Delhi Municipal Corporation Mayor Jai Prakash assured that salaries for all resident doctors have been issued till December and only two months of wages are now pending for senior doctors/consultants, North MCD doctors claim otherwise. Contrary to the civic body's official stance, junior and residents at North MCD hospitals say that they have not received wages for two months or more. The situation for senior doctors is even worse as they have not been paid post-October.
Dr Abhimanyu Sardana, President of Hindu Rao Hospital's Resident Doctors' Association said, "It seems that only those employees who go on strike will be able to receive their salaries. Neither residents nor senior doctors or consultants want to go on strike. The hospital was already almost no-functional due to nurses, paramedics and safai karamcharis being on strike for more than a month. The situation was so dire that we did not even have guage and antiseptic on the dressing carts to administer basic care to our patients. Moreover, in a month, most of our medical students have exams coming up. If we go on strike at this time, it will affect their exam preparation and future quite adversely".
The RDA's sentiment is also shared by senior doctors, with a senior orthopaedic doctor saying that sitting on a long strike to receive pending salaries will mean that patients and medical students suffer. "The vaccination drive was also delayed because the hospital was not all equipped for the COVID-19 immunization rollout. Going on strike will do more harm than good".
However, that does mean that doctors have been suffering due to such a delay. Various RDAs and even senior doctors have already approached their hospital administrators and senior North MCD officials. "But the only reply we get is that they will resolve the issue soon or just wait for a few more days", Dr Sardana said. "If we don't get our salaries by the end of February, we might not be left with any other option but to go on strike", a senior doctor said.
