The Supreme Court has agreed to hear on Wednesday a plea related to the economically weaker section quota in NEET-PG admissions, after the Centre sought urgent hearing in the matter.
Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, scores of resident doctors in Delhi on Monday symbolically 'returned their lab coats,' and took out a march in the streets.
Doctors are demanding certain amendments in the bill. According to them, if not amended, the bill will lead to deterioration of medical education and degradation of healthcare services.
'The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out'
The resident doctors at the North Delhi Municipal Corporation's 450-bedded Kasturba Hospital and Hindu Rao Hospital have claimed that they have not been paid salary since March. Many doctors and other staff have tested positive for COVID-19 till date at both hospitals.
Expressing deep concern over the recent act of violence against doctors, Vardhan stated that incidents of assault on doctors are reported from different parts of the country and this leads to sudden strike by doctors, gravely affecting the healthcare services.
Vardhan said that allopathic medicines have saved lives of crores and comments that it is responsible for death of lakhs is "extremely unfortunate".
In a statement, the medical body said that the emergency services including casualty, labour rooms, emergency surgeries will function along with ICUs, CCUs, but no elective surgical case will be posted.
Resident Doctors' Association of the AIIMS in Delhi, which earlier decided not to join the strike, announced withdrawal of all non-essential services from noon after a junior doctor at its trauma centre was assaulted in the early hours of Monday.
The stir, led by the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, has been going on for several days, and FORDA also said that several of its members were 'detained' when they tried to hold a protest march from Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) to Supreme Court.
The government said that the panel has recommended that family income is a "feasible criterion" for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh of annual family income seems reasonable for determining EWS.
Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan sparred on Twitter on Saturday with the Opposition leader raising questions over the emergency use approval given to the indigenously developed vaccine Covaxin and the Bharatiya Janata Party leader hitting back alleging that Tewari was only passionate about spreading rumours.
The doctors, who are protesting against the assault on two of their colleagues at NRS Medical College and Hospital, had on Friday sought unconditional apology from Banerjee and set six conditions for the state government in order to withdraw their stir.
Khan, who was the nodal officer at the state-run hospital's paediatric department, had been hailed as a hero after he reportedly bought oxygen cylinders with his own money during the crisis.
Giving an instant reaction to passage of the Bill, which fixes the retirement age of the director of AIIMS at 65 years, the Resident Doctors Association said the OPD services would not operate from Thursday.
The campaign was started in the wake of government's decision to withhold the salaries of doctors who participated in the anti-reservation strike last month.
Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who was to leave for Bhutan this morning to attend a WHO meeting, cancelled his trip apparently due to the crisis.
According to the striking doctors, Health Minister Ambumani Ramadoss is responsible for the current situation.
The resident doctors will hold a meeting on Friday evening to decide the future course of action.
The court has also made it clear that it will also consider the contentions of the petitioner whether the caste-based policy of reservation shall not divide this great country along caste lines.
The AIIMS RDA and other students' organisations were planning to approach the President on the issue and could also move Supreme Court.
"If the states are not complying with the directions and orders of the Central government, you are not helpless. You have to ensure that your order is implemented. "You have got the power under the Disaster Management Act. You can take steps also," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre.
The decision was taken at a general body meeting of the Resident Doctors' Association in New Delhi.
It will help protect healthcare service personnel and their living and working premises against violence.
Nearly 4,000 resident doctors in Maharashtra on Thursday went on an indefinite strike demanding suspension of three policemen from Solapur who allegedly attacked their colleague there on December 31.
'The administration was not ready for (my) release, but I have been released because of the prayers of people.'
There is a possibility of an outbreak of epidemics in relief camps, where thousands of riot-hit victims have taken shelter following last month's communal violence in Muzaffarnagar, a team of doctors said after a survey of the areas.
"The provisions of the said bill are nothing short of draconian and promote gross incompetence and mockery of professionals currently working day and night and sacrificing their youth for this broken system," said the protesting doctors.
'Everyone wants that doctors should fight from the frontlines of the pandemic, but there's no reaction from the government when they fall ill or even die because of it.'
'We will see a kind of disaster which the country has not seen in the last 100 years.'
The bench said that there are reports coming that many areas doctors are not being paid. "We saw report that doctors went on strike. In Delhi, some doctors have not been paid for past three months. These are concerns that should have been taken care off. It should not require court intervention."
Delhi government is planning to invoke the ESMA to force an end to the strike by government doctors that continued to paralyse health services in the national capital.
Notwithstanding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's warning of strict action if work is not resumed, the junior doctors carried on with their agitation.
The apex medical body, IMA demanded a comprehensive central law in dealing with violence on doctors and healthcare staff, and in hospitals.
Mamata set 6 conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir.
Delhi government on Tuesday invoked the ESMA to force an end to the strike by government doctors that continued to cripple health services in the national capital for the second day.
Resident doctors are the engines that run hospitals. For the patient, they are the face, hands, and voice of the hospital.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances