The “Corona Warriors” our Prime Minister lauded and urged the nation to clap and bang utensils for as a way of thanking them, have complained of not being paid for the last 3 months. North Delhi’s Kasturba Hospital’s resident doctors argue that they have not received their salaries since March and threaten to go on a mass resignation spree if the problem persists.
The hospital, located near Jama Masjid, is managed by North Delhi Municipal Corporation (MCD) and has nearly 100 resident doctors.
The doctors submitted a signed letter to the hospital authorities on Wednesday and warned that if no solution occurs, they will collectively resign on June 16.
The letter reads “this is to inform that the resident doctors have not been salaried for the last three months. All the residents are working in this pandemic Covid-19 situation continuously putting their and their families lives in danger.”
It said furthermore that “Being the frontline workers, we should be paid our pending salaries as soon as possible and should be ensured a regular salary payout. We are afraid if we won’t be paid by 16th June 2020, we will have to move for Mass Resignation.”
A paediatrician and spokesperson of the hospital Resident Doctors Association, Dr. Abhiman Chauhan, says that it has become extremely difficult to work tirelessly without getting any salary.
He says “Its been three months, we haven’t got a salary since March. We have spoken about it repeatedly, but all in vain. That’s why we have written this letter. If they don’t clear our dues, we will resign on 16 June.”
“We are frontline workers, how can we be neglected like this? Doctors who stay out of campus and don’t have government accommodation need to pay rents, travel, and support their families.”
It’s not just that these doctors are not being paid but they are also being subjected to discrimination.
Chauhan says that “the other day a resident doctor was asked by his landlord to vacate his room for fear of catching coronavirus. Shifting in Delhi requires a lot of money. Travelling to the hospital daily is also expensive because metros are closed. This way, we will soon be left with nothing to survive with.”
Following the letter, the hospital’s medical superintendent Dr. Sangita Nangia informed that salaries have not been paid due to lack of funds.
Not just Resident doctors, nearly 70 permanent ones have also not been paid since March.
A doctor, on the assurance that he remains anonymous, says that “We cannot say too much since we are permanent doctors, but yes, we haven’t got our salaries since March too. When we speak to the authorities, they say they don’t have the funds right now.”
The issue is not restricted to Kasturba. Earlier, several other workers at various hospitals, polyclinics, and maternity nursing homes have complained of not being paid for 2 months.
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