New Delhi: The Municipal Corporation Doctors' Association (MCDA) said that senior doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run hospitals would go on an indefinite strike from Monday over non-payment of salaries and arrears. Emergency services will not be affected.
Dr RR Gautam, MCDA president, said the decision was taken during the association's general body meeting, PTI reported. Doctors of the SDMC and EDMC, which are also part of the association, will not participate in this strike.
The doctors are demanding disbursement of their salaries for September and October. "Our salaries are due for September and October. On November 17, a letter was sent to the NDMC commissioner apprising him about the difficult situation that we doctors are facing. Yesterday, our salary for September was released," PTI quoted Gautam as saying.
He said MCDA would cancel their strike if their salary for October was released. "However, our demands also include release of arrears, and DA (dearness allowance) enhancement, among others," he said.
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In October last year too, doctors under the MCDA had gone on strike. "The strike was called off after a written agreement among the civic authorities, Resident Doctors’ Association of Hindu Rao Hospital and MCDA that timely payment of salaries will be done in future," Gautam said.
In a letter written to the NDMC commissioner on November 17, the association wrote "the onus of the strike shall lie with the authorities and not with the MCDA". "By defaulting on the payment of salaries for the last two months, North MCD has failed to honour the agreement, hence we are free to call for strike of doctors," the letter further said.
The NDMC has six civic hospitals under it, including Hindu Rao Hospital, Kasturba Hospital, Mrs Girdhari Lal Maternity Hospital and several other dispensaries and polyclinics.