Put On Apron For A Day To Feel Our Pain: AIIMS doctors tell PM Modi

NEW DELHI: Backing the protest by doctors in Rajasthan for higher pay and promotions, resident doctors of AIIMS asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to "live" their life for a day to understand their stress.

In a letter to PM Modi, the AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) yesterday urged the PM to understand the tremendous pressure on doctors at government hospitals due to the poor infrastructure and misbehaviour of patients' relatives during emergency situations.

"We are lucky to have an active PM like you... Now RDA AIIMS requests you to put (on) white apron and spend one day as a government doctor to understand the tremendous amount of pressure we face, the agony of patients who did not get treatment, the dying healthcare system due to lack of resources and infrastructure," AIIMS RDA president Harjit Singh Bhatti wrote in the letter.

He said it will also set an example to ministers who level allegations against doctors for cheap publicity.

"Your one day as a government doctor can be a turning point for the healthcare system as it will restore faith in the medical profession," the letter read.

Several doctors in Rajasthan were arrested as the state government invoked the Rajasthan Essential Services Maintenance Act (RESMA) for three months after the All Rajasthan In-Service Doctors' Association warned of indefinite strike in support of their demands.

"Rajasthan doctors are on strike from December 16, this strike is helplessness rather than intentional because the state government arrested 86 doctors by imposing RESMA," read the letter.

"Their demands were previously accepted by the Rajasthan government but now they refuse to fulfil them, resulting in mistrust and anguish among the hardworking doctors. Please instruct the Rajasthan government to fulfil their promises and stop all atrocities against doctors," it said.