NEW DELHI: The National Board of Examinations (NBE) on Tuesday warned the the administration of the Hindu Rao Hospital in Delhi of withdrawing accreditation if the facility does not immediately release the pending stipend to the 'Diplomate of National Board' trainees.
The degree awarded by the National Board of Examinations, which establishes standards of post graduate examinations in medicine across the country, is called 'Diplomate of National Board'.
In a letter to Hindu Rao Hospital medical superintendent, the Executive Director of NBE, Professor Pawanindra Lal, said the body has taken a serious note of an October 24 email from the Hindu Rao Hospital, mentioning that DNB trainees at the hospital have last been paid stipend in July and there is delay in disbursal of salary August onwards.
"NBE believes strictly in the policy of "no work no pay".
In the instant matter, the hospital has failed to pay stipend to DNB trainees and NBE strongly supports the cause of its trainees that there will be no work if there is no pay.
"DNB trainees cannot be forced to perform clinical duties if the stipend due is not being duly paid to them," the letter said.
The letter also stated that stipend is essential for day-to-day subsistence and cannot be postponed by giving cumulatively at any point later than when it is due to be paid.
"The hospital is required to release the pending stipend to the trainees immediately failing which NBE shall be constrained to take appropriate action including but not limited to withdrawal of accreditation of Hindu Rao Hospital," the letter added.
Patients of North Corporation-run hospitals faced hardship as its senior doctors went on an indefinite strike on Tuesday, a day after they had gone on casual leave en masse over their pending salaries.
Residents doctors of the Hindu Rao Hospital have been agitating over their pending salaries since the last week of September and by turns, five of their colleges have been sitting on a relay hunger strike for the past few days.
Meanwhile, patients of North Corporation-run hospitals faced hardship as its senior doctors went on an indefinite strike on Tuesday, a day after they had gone on casual leave en masse over their pending salaries.
Maruti Sinha, general secretary of the Municipal Corporation Doctors' Association (MCDA), said that a meeting was held in the morning in the campus of the Hindu Rao Hospital where North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash, heads of the Indian Medical Association and the Delhi Medical Association, and the MCDA president were present.
In the afternoon, the mayor held a press conference with his counterpart from the east and south corporations, and later in a statement claimed that the "NDMC (North Delhi Municipal Corporation) today cleared the due salaries of doctors up to September; of Safai Karamcharis and Domestic Breeding Checkers up to August this year, and of nurses up to July, and of health workers upto June".
Sinha said, "Salaries have not been credited, so our indefinite strike is still on".
The MCDA, an association of senior permanent doctors of civic hospitals, was established in 1974, and has about 1,200 members.
It also includes doctors from hospitals run by the other two municipal corporations -- East Delhi Municipal Corporation and South Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Residents doctors of the Hindu Rao Hospital have been agitating over their pending salaries since the last week of September and by turns, five of their colleges have been sitting on a relay hunger strike for the past few days.
"Our salaries have not been credited, so our strike is also on. And, RDA-MCDA has not taken any decision on it yet," said Abhimanyu Sardana, president of the Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) of Hindu Rao Hospital.
Other hospitals under the North Corporation include the Kasturba Hospital, Rajen Babu Tuberculosis Hospital, Mrs Girdhari Lal Maternity Hospital.
"We have about 700 doctors from the North Corporation hospital who are part of MCDA. We all went on mass casual leave in protest on Monday. And, even though our conscience doesn't allow, our doctors did not attend to patients even in emergency wards," Sinha said.
Patients at Hindu Rao Hospital and other North Delhi Municipal Corporation-run facilities faced inconvenience as doctors struck work to press for their demands.
Authorities may have taken services of contractual doctors, Sinha said.
Services were also hit on Monday when the senior doctors went on a mass casual leave and did not even attend to patients in the emergency department.
Meanwhile, resident doctors of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital and associated hospitals on Tuesday held also symbolic protests to show solidarity with the protesting doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation run-hospitals.
Resident doctors of Safdarjung and RML hospitals held black-ribbon protest while the medics of Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital observed a pen-down symbolic protest in non-COVID and non-emergency areas on Tuesday.
Extending support to the protesting doctors of North Delhi Municipal Corporation run-hospitals, including Hindi Rao Hospital, the AIIMS RDA on Tuesday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention and demanded that salaries be paid through the PM-CARES fund as "temporary measures to heal the emotions of these warriors".
Recently, the North Delhi Mayor had said that salary for the month of July had been released to doctors, but the protests continued.
Hindu Rao Hospital RDA had said that one month's salary was received by resident doctors, but MCDA president R R Gautam had said, "Our doctors did not get that salary".