On Thursday, nearly 25000 resident doctors went on a day strike to protest against the de-merger of an allowance(NPA) from their basic salaries. Owing to the alleged absence of a timely treatment as a result of the strike, a 70-year-old woman patient died at central Delhi's Lok Nayak hospital.
The patient, Sapra Begum, suffering from arthritis and respiratory problems, was brought to the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital's emergency around 11 am, however, she breathed her last around 12.30 pm allegedly because she was not treated on time.
Her son Shabbir, a resident of Laxmi Nagar area in East Delhi said, "My mother's condition was extremely serious. We were waiting in the emergency ward but no doctor offered to examine her. We were told that all doctors are on strike and were asked to take her to AIIMS. But there was no time for that."
"After waiting for more than two hours, a doctor came and administered an injection. But after the injection, she started vomiting and expired within the next 15 minutes," he added.
Resident doctors across Delhi are demanding merger of the non-practicing allowance(NPA) with their basic salary, contrary to the seventh pay commission recommendations.
The doctors from Safdarjung, LNJPN, Ram Manohar Lohia and other Delhi government hospitals gathered at Lady Hardinge hospital and took out a protest march up to Jantar Mantar.
"The strike was to create pressure on the authorities. We want them to consider our demand for the merger of the NPA with our basic salary. Earlier, the NPA was merged with basic salary. But after the seventh pay commission recommendations, it has been separated from basic salary," said president of the Federation of Resident Doctors Association(FORDA), Dr Pankaj Solanki.
"I have written to authorities concerned on this issue but to no avail. Today, except for All India Institute of Medical Sciences, resident doctors of all government hospitals in Delhi are on strike," he said, adding that the emergency and OPD services are being handled by senior faculty at these hospitals. Additional Secretary in the Health Ministry Arun Panda on Thursday held meetings with Medical Superintendents of RML, Lady Hardinge and Safdarjung hospitals and later said "Our hospitals have put in place contingency plans so that all emergencies, trauma cases are taken care of."
