Due to the ongoing tussle between the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) and the authorities, doctors have decided to continue their strike on Tuesday as well, since talks with the Union health minister could not come to the desired conclusion. OPD as well as emergency services remained paralysed at RML, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge and GTB hospital.

Meanwhile, resident doctors at AIIMS Delhi also came up in support of the demand and decided to work with black ribbons to support the cause. In a statement, they said that they support the overburdened resident doctors of the country and as an acknowledgement of the suffering of Indian citizens who are being denied services of 42,000 doctors due to avoidable and inconvenient delays in NEET PG counselling.

On Monday, December 6, 2021, the resident doctors of the Centre-run RML, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge hospitals boycotted all routine and emergency services in support of a nationwide protest called by the FORDA against the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling.

A statement by FORDA said: “A delegation was led by FORDA’s president in a meeting on Friday at 12:30 p.m. onwards with Union Health Minister at RML Hospital in New Delhi. In the meeting, the Health Minister assured us that he had taken a note of our grievances and that the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW) would get the case mentioned in the Supreme Court for an early hearing.”

The Health Minister also mentioned that the MoHFW would try to get the case regarding NEET-PG 2021 counselling and the case pertaining to Reservation Policy, delinked, to expedite the process. He, however, informed that he was unable to give any official statement or assurance in the public domain as the matter was sub judice. He asked the
delegation to call off the agitation based on verbal assurance. The FORDA further stated the delegation had informed the Health Minister that the agitation would continue.

Amid the protests by the resident doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to stop the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling as there was an acute shortage of manpower.