NEET-PG delay: Doctors to strike tomorrow, boycott OPD

A number of doctors associations have called for a strike on Saturday (November 27) against the postponement of NEET PG counselling, which delays admissions to PG medical courses, thereby burdening the current crop of physicians in the country.

The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) has asked all resident doctors to abstain from Out Patient Department (OPD) services on Saturday.

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors’ Network (IMA-JDN) have expressed support for the strike.

Demonstrations too will be held on Saturday, with some representatives of associations planning indefinite strike. A protest march has been planned at Jantar Mantar.

“The already overburdened and exhausted Resident Doctors of the nation fighting at the frontline since the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic, have been waiting patiently till date for some positive outcome of Supreme Court proceedings in the matter of already delayed NEET-PG 2021 counselling. However, there seems to be no respite to their physical and mental distress, with the next court hearing scheduled on 6th January 2022,” FORDA said in a statement.

Also read: EWS quota limit for NEET-PG will be ‘revisited’, Centre tells SC

The Supreme Court is hearing petitions regarding reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).

The Centre had told the court that it would revisit the below ₹8 lakh criteria set for deciding the EWS limit, following which the court decided to hear the matter further on January 6, 2022.

Due to this, NEET-PG counselling too has been suspended and postponed.

The associations urged the Union health ministry to immediately expedite NEET PG counselling and recruitment of new doctors.

“There should be no further delays. Resident doctors are already overburdened by the workload and are facing immense burnout. Failure to immediately address this will lead to a complete collapse of the public healthcare system of our country,” Dr Rohan Krishnan, president, FAIMA, said in a statement.