A written petition has been filed with Chief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana, requesting that the Delhi Police take strict action against the "culprits" who beat protesting doctors in the national capital.
Advocate Vineet Jindal's petition also requested that the Central government appoint a commission to investigate the grievances presented by the protesting doctors.
"It's a sad state of affairs that doctors who were once praised and appreciated for their tireless efforts are now overworked and exhausted, and their pleas to the authorities appear to have gone unheard, as the authorities appear unconcerned about the shortage of healthcare workers caused by the non-admission of new resident doctors. Furthermore, these doctors are denied their fundamental right to be professionally improved in all aspects,” the petition stated.
Several young resident doctors have been protesting in Delhi for the past few days, demanding that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) postgraduate degree counselling process be completed as soon as possible.
The protesting resident doctors had passed the PG examinations and are now waiting for the counselling procedure to begin so that admissions can begin.
NEET counselling is generally held in March each year, but in 2021 it was postponed owing to COVID-19. The NEET PG entrance exam was only held in September of this year, and the counselling process has yet to begin.
This is due to a Supreme Court case contesting the Central government's introduction of a 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and a 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutes.
During the case's hearing on October 25, the Central government promised the Court that no PG medical course counselling will begin till the matter is resolved by the Court.
The case is now scheduled to be heard on January 6, 2022. As a result, the admission of around 50,000 resident doctors has been put on hold.
Jindal has asked for an order to expedite the hearing of the NEET-EWS reservation case and to hold a day-to-day hearing in the case in his letter. With a third wave of COVID looming due to the Omicron strain of the virus, Jindal claimed that the country requires the best health care.
The delay in resolving the issues presented by doctors will have an impact on the lives of individuals who are in urgent need of medical care, according to the submission.
"With doctors as our frontline fighters in this conflict with Covid, it is critical to address the difficulties of resident doctors as quickly as possible to meet their demands and call off the strike," the letter stated.