'Mentally, Physically Exhausted': Doctors Speak on NEET PG Counselling Protests

Protests and sloganeering by resident doctors from across medical colleges and hospitals in Delhi have been reverberating for the past month over the delay in the NEET PG counselling. And the reason why this counselling process is important is because nearly 44,000 doctors, which are assigned by the counselling process every year, have been left in a lurch for almost 12 months now. And with no new staff, only two-thirds of medical staff has been available at government and state run hospitals, in a pandemic. And on 27 December, a protest by the Federation of Resident Doctors Association or FORDA near ITO Post Office in Delhi met with a wall of police personnel, where videos shared on social media show the police dragging and detaining several doctors. Over 100 doctors were detained and the police also filed an FIR on charges of rioting and destruction of public property. According to the FORDA, the protests will continue until their demands have been met. For today’s episode, you will hear from resident doctors part of the protest from Safdarjung and GB Pant Hospitals in Delhi. Guests: Dr Suvrankar Datta, General Secretary of the Federation of All Indian Medical Association Dr Lovely Singh, a gynecologist at Safdarjung Hospital Dr Mahesh Mahajan, a neurosurgery resident at GB Pant Hospital Dr Aarti Parashay, a resident doctor at GB Pant Hospital Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Editor: Eshwar Ranjana Also check out: ‘We Are Not Machines’: Doctors Across Delhi Protest Against Delay in NEET-PG Counselling | The Quint NEET-PG Protest: Relief for Patients, Resident Doctors Suspend Strike for a Week Resident Doctors Protest Outside Health Ministry Over Delay in NEET Counselling 'Black Day': Delhi Police Detains Protesting Doctors, Logs Rioting Case Become a Quint Member! Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices