Salaries Of Doctors In MCD Unpaid; IMA Files Contempt Plea In Supreme Court

A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on account of non-payment of salaries of doctors working with three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.

The plea states that even though the Supreme Court had on June 17 directed to ensure that the States pay their doctors and healthcare workers full salaries, provide them with appropriate accommodation and implement quarantine guidelines uniformly among medical staffers and doctors regardless of the nature of their exposure to COVID-19 patients, admittedly the monthly salary / emoluments / allowances etc. required to be paid to the doctors has not been done by the Delhi Government.

The plea has been filed by Advocate Amarjeet Singh and has been drawn by Advocate Prabhas Bajaj.

"The IMA has been constrained to file the present contempt petition on account of the continuing / contumacious conduct of the respondent authorities in blatant disregard and wilful / deliberate non-compliance of the order dated 17.06.2020 passed by this Hon'ble Court in W.P. (C) No. 759 / 2020 [Arushi Jain V. Union of India] whereby this Hon'ble Court had, inter alia, directed that the Central Govt. shall pass orders for all State Governments and Union Territories to ensure that salaries and emoluments of Doctors and Health Workers, who are frontline warriors, are paid in a timely manner"

- IMA Tells SC

The plea states that It is a matter of public knowledge and in public domain that the doctors working under the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi [(i)North Delhi Municipal Corporation (ii) South Delhi Municipal Corporation (iii) East Delhi Municipal Corporation] have not been paid their salaries for a number of months.

The plea states that while performing their duties selflessly and tirelessly, the doctors are not seeking any special treatment from any authority.

"However, the minimum basic and fundamental right of the doctors and other healthcare workers is that their monthly salaries / emoluments / allowances etc. are paid to them in a timely manner and without any delay. This is the minimum basic requirement even for the bare animal existence of these doctors and healthcare workers," the IMA states in its contempt plea.

While highlighting the tireless performance of doctors in the present scenario, the plea states that doctors are still being forced to face the humiliation of running from pillar to post with a begging bowl for even getting the payment of the monthly salaries / emoluments / allowances etc., which are due to them from the authorities.

This, the plea avers is a grave and serious prejudice to the Fundamental Rights of the doctors and other healthcare workers under the Constitution of India, including under Article 21.

The plea states that the continuing contumacious conduct of the Respondent Authorities in refusing to pay the monthly salaries / emoluments / allowances etc. of the Doctors in a timely manner on a monthly basis has compelled the doctors to express their serious protest in this regard by making complaints, thereafter holding dharnas / agitations in a completely democratic manner but did not yield any result.

In this light, doctors and health workers were then forced to resort to a hunger strike when 5 Resident Doctors of Hindu Rao Hospital [under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation] had sat on an indefinite hunger strike from 23rd October, 2020 and which ended on October 29.

At the time of filing of the instant contempt plea on October 28, the salaries had remained unpaid for months. As of today, salaries for October and November remain unpaid.

The top court is expected to hear the case tomorrow.