NEW DELHI: Seven-year-old Shyam Lal Kanswa was sleeping on the seventh floor of the OPD building at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in unbearable heat. Suffering from a urological ailment, Shyam was scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday.
But that did not happen due to the one-day strike called by the Resident Doctors Association at AIIMS in solidarity with doctors protesting an attack on their colleagues at NRS Medical College in Kolkata.
“We came from Bikaner today morning as because my nephew was supposed to have surgery. We went inside where the beds are allotted. After making us wait for 10 minutes, they came and said that the surgery won’t happen today,” said Ram Dayal Kanswa, an uncle of the patient.
The corridors on the fifth floor of the OPD building wore a deserted look. It was around 10 am, normally one of the busiest hours, which sees a huge rush of patients at India’s premier medical institution.
Only a handful of people were waiting for their turn to see a doctor; some of the chambers were locked while in other doctors were busy examining patients. The second, third and fourth floors, which house more departments and see a huge rush of patients, were also comparatively less crowded.
“Only those who had got dates for the OPD earlier were allowed inside. It is mostly the follow-up patients,” said an AIIMS official on duty. Due to the strike, the OPDs and operation theatres did not function yesterday, but emergency cases were being attended to.
“This sort of incident is nothing but harassment of patients. What about those who travel from other cities. Where will we stay? Getting a date for a check-up at AIIMS takes long, and staying in Delhi is expensive,” said Baidnath Singh, who had come from Munger in Bihar with his son for treatment.