PGIMER: 700 workers boycott duty after junior resident doctor accuses 3 staffers of theft

The contractual workers also staged protests outside the PGI police post against the detention of the staffers and sought action against a junior doctor and some police officials.

The staffers were placed under custody after a Junior Resident (JR) doctor at the Cardiology department alleged that they have stolen his mobile phone on Saturday; however, right after lodging the complaint his phone was found in his drawer but the staffers were not released. The PGI contract workers association alleged that the employees were brutally assaulted in police custody and have to be admitted to a trauma center, reports Hindustan Times. 

The contractual workers suspended work in the emergency and other centres of the hospital at from 8 a.m. till 2.30 p.m. They further submitted a complaint to the PGIMER director and Chandigarh senior superintendent of police against the junior doctor of the cardiac centre, a constable, and an assistant sub-inspector. In the complaint, the contractual workers mentioned that on July 24, three workers, including a hospital attendant and two sanitary attendants were working at the cardiac centre.

As per recent media reports, at around 10:30 p.m, a resident doctor's phone went missing after which he allegedly started accusing the three workers of stealing without any evidence. The doctor eventually called the police who took the 3 employees to the police post. "After a while, the doctor got a message that his phone was lying in a table drawer. He might have kept it there and forgotten. The doctor left the police post, but the workers were kept in police custody and beaten up even after the phone was found," the complaint stated.

The police allegedly kept the staff in custody; however, they didn't try to confirm the matter by interrogating the other staff members serving the night shift that day and even made casteist remarks against the workers. PGI contract workers association president Sanjeev Kumar told the daily, "The three were beaten brutally and are admitted at the trauma centre. We have a meeting with the administration, who have assured us that PGIMER will bear the cost of treatment and give them compensation."

The Indian Express reports that the union members also alleged that two police personnel were drunk when they slapped and beat up the three suspects without any valid ground. After the incident, the constable in question was shifted from the PGI police post to Sector 11 Police Station on administrative grounds. The union sought strict action against the doctor and two policemen. Sector 11 station house officer Ranjodh Singh, stated, "We have got the medical examination done and are looking into the complaint."