[Doctors' Protest] Letter plea in Supreme Court for probe, action against Delhi police personnel who assaulted doctors

A letter petition has been moved before Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana seeking directions to the Delhi Police to take stern action against the "culprits" who physically assaulted protesting doctors in the national capital. .The plea by advocate Vineet Jindal also sought directions to the Central government to form a committee to look into the issues raised by the protesting doctors.."It is a sad state of affairs that the doctors once applauded and appreciated for their ceaseless efforts are now in a state of overburden and exhaustion and the appeal of these resident doctors seems to have fallen on deaf ears of the authorities who do not seem to be concerned about the shortage of healthcare workforce due to non-admission of fresh batch of resident doctors. Besides, these doctors are also deprived of their basic right of being professionally upgraded in every aspect," the plea said..Several young resident doctors have been protesting in Delhi for the past few days demanding that the counselling process for National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) post graduate courses be conducted at the earliest. The protesting resident doctors had qualified the exams for PG courses and are awaiting the counselling process so that admissions can start.The NEET counselling is usually held in March every year but was delayed in 2021 due to COVID-19.The NEET PG entrance examination itself was held only in September this year and the counselling has not started yet.This is because of a case pending before the Supreme Court challenging 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 percent reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) introduced by the Central government in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutions.During the hearing of the case on October 25, the Central government had assured the Court that the counselling for PG medical courses will not start till the Court decides the matter.The case is now listed for consideration on January 6, 2022.The admission of around 50,000 resident doctors are, therefore, on hold..The letter plea by Jindal has, therefore, prayed for a direction to advance the hearing of the NEET-EWS reservation case and also hold a day-to-day hearing in the matter.Jindal contended that the country is in need of best health services with a third wave of COVID looming large due to Omicron variant of the virus."Already, Covid- 19 second wave has left an indelible impact on lives of people due to the massive death toll, and now we are again facing a crises of third wave and are in extreme need of best health care services owing to the current situation of the outbreak of omicron virus," the plea said.The delay in resolving the issues raised by doctors will not only affect the doctors but also impact the lives those who are in urgent need of medical care, it was submitted."With doctors as our frontline warriors against this war with Covid, it is imperative to address the issues of resident doctors at the earliest to resolve their demands and to call off the strike as soon as possible," it was submitted.