New Delhi, Dec 27 (Representative) Over 2,000 resident doctors were detained by Delhi Police on Monday evening while the agitating medicos marched to the resident of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. The doctors had planned to demonstrate in front of the Union Health Minister’s house against the detention of their members that happened earlier in the day that left many injured while a few sustained severe injuries.
However, they were detained on their way a few hundred meters away from Safdarjung Hospital. The agitating doctors are detained at Sarojini Nagar Police Station in South Delhi. The doctors alleged brutal use of force by the Police. They said many of the agitating residents were thrashed, pushed and abused while the police detained them. The female medicos also alleged that they were manhandled by male police staff. “We were doing a peaceful demonstration in the morning.
Delhi Police’s use of force made it violent. Many of our doctors became victims of the police brutality that happened in the afternoon. We were going to tell this to our health minister but the police didn’t let us do that and detained us in the police station,” Dr Manish, president, Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) said. Thousands of resident doctors in Delhi on Monday morning blocked the road leading to ITO in Central Delhi after their march to the Supreme Court (SC) was stopped midway by Delhi Police. The doctors had given a call for the march to the apex court after their month-long agitation to expedite the counselling of NEET PG 2021 qualifiers was not accepted by the Centre. The resident doctors from major hospitals here run by the Centre and Delhi government are on strike for the last 11 days with a demand to expedite the counselling of NEET PG 2021 qualifiers, a move that will add around 50,000 doctors to the government hospitals across India. Meanwhile, the agitation has spread countrywide. Many key government hospitals across India have also shut down their OPD and emergency services to show support to the agitation. Patient care in Delhi was affected for the 11th day as the resident doctors have boycotted all services, including emergency, as part of the nationwide agitation called by the Federation Of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA). The doctors maintained that they will not provide services at the hospitals until the Supreme Court, which has stayed the counselling due to several petitions, calls for immediate hearing of the matter The apex court has given a date of January 6 to hear the matter.