OPD and emergency services at leading Delhi hospitals, including Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge and Lok Nayak, were affected on Friday because of the resident doctors’ protest against NEET PG counselling delays.

The resident doctors, after a brief interval of one week, resumed their protest and boycotted all services, including emergency services.

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Amid the threat of Omicron, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash hospital, Delhi’s only hospital dedicated to treat this new variant, was also badly impacted due to the protest.

The hospital, which is already facing staff crisis due to delay in NEET PG counselling, is now also failing to cater to the needs of the visiting patients with the resident doctors boycotting OPD and emergency services.

The agitating doctors said that they will continue the protest till their demands of NEET PG counselling is not meet. Resident doctors at Ram Manohar Lohia said they resumed the strike as the government had made a “fake promise”.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association on Wednesday shot off a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya informing him the decision of withdrawing from all services including routine and emergency services by resident doctors in healthcare institutions from December 17 as their demand of urgent hearing of NEET PG Counseling 2021 is pending in the apex court.

The resident doctors across the nation have waited patiently and the agitation was put on hold on December 9, for a week, following the assurance by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for fast tracking court hearing, and assurance of expediting the NEET PG 2021 Counselling and considering multiple factors including patient care, the federation said in the letter.

The RDAs across the nation have been protesting since November 27 against the multiple postponement of the test and the subsequent admission of the fresh batch of resident doctors in the medical colleges.

The RDAs had boycotted the emergency and the routine services in hospitals from December 6. However, the federation suspended their agitation for one week after getting the ministry’s assurance on December 9.