AAP Imposes ESMA but Delhi Doctors Yet to Call off Strike
AAP govt says all demands accepted so strike must be called off. But doctors say concrete must be taken first.
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The AAP government has imposed the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) to force the doctors on strike to return to duty. The strike is paralyising health services in the national capital for the second day on Tuesday.
A senior Delhi government official said that on Monday, authorities had accepted 19 demands of the resident doctors on strike and asked them to resume their work.
The strike is not justified when we have agreed to all the demands. Doctors of Delhi government hospitals should resume their work and not join with central government hospitals.
– Delhi government official
The protesting doctors, however, said that they have not called off the strike as they need concrete measures from the government.
Even that time (in February), they had given assurances of fulfilling our demands, but failed to deliver on those. So, as of now, the strike continues until some concrete steps are taken.
– Anshuman Raheja, spokesperson of Federation of Resident Doctors Association
The striking doctors are demanding adequate life-saving drugs, security at workplace and timely payment of salaries.
The strike by the resident doctors at over 20 hospitals run by the central and Delhi governments and municipal corporations, including Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Maulana Azad Medical College, has hit medical services.
(With inputs from PTI)
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