Resident doctors at Kasturba Hospital, run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD), have threatened mass resignation if their three months’ salaries are not paid.
On Wednesday, they have submitted a letter to the hospital authorities, saying they will resign en masse on 16 June if their demand is not met.
The Delhi High Court on Thursday initiated a PIL on the issue, and on Friday issued an interim order directing the release of pending salaries of the doctors.
The high court also asked the Central government, Delhi government and its health department, North MCD, Kasturba Gandhi hospital, and others to file a reply on the matter and listed it for further hearing in July.
Besides, resident doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital, which also comes under NDMC, had also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to release their salaries.
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Moreover, the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has sought the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah into the issue of non-payment of salaries of resident doctors at various health facilities under NDMC, including Kasturba Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital.
The BJP-ruled NDMC’s total revenue earnings for the coming year at pegged at ₹4,372.40 crore and estimated the expenditure to be around ₹4017.24 crore, leaving the council with a surplus of ₹355 crore.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Friday expressed concern over reports of doctors not being paid salaries, saying the country “cannot have dissatisfied soldiers in this war that is being made against coronavirus.”
The apex court said the government needed to do more to address concerns of medical professionals. The top court was hearing a petition that called for doctors and others in the frontlines of the virus battle to be accommodated in hotels and guest houses for quarantine after seven to 14 days of duty.