Resident doctors of AIIMS write to Union minister over harassment of colleague who attempted suicide

The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of AIIMS wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday about the administration's "inaction" on the alleged harassment of a resident doctor on the basis of caste and gender by the faculty at the premier hospital.

The female doctor attempted to commit suicide on Friday, one of his colleagues at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here said.

"We would like to bring to your kind notice a serious event of caste and gender based discrimination of a Senior Resident of CDER, AIIMS. The Resident has made repeated appeals to the Department, the Director and also has been represented through RDA, AIIMS to the administration.

"Despite multiple letters (on three different dates), there has been no adequate action to address this issue of grave concern and eventually, leading the Resident to the edge, making her take the drastic step to end her life after losing the hope of justice in this prestigious institute," the RDA's letter, seeking the minister's intervention in the matter, said.

It said the doctor had also written to the Women's Grievance Cell and SC-ST Welfare Cell of AIIMS as well as the National SC-ST Commission, but no appropriate action was taken.

"The reluctant behaviour of the administration and the institute committee led the resident to take such an extreme step of inflicting self-harm. Therefore, we appeal to the administration and the ministries concerned to expedite the process and address this injustice at the earliest. We look upon you for justice to prevail and to ensure that such actions do not happen again," the letter added.

According to a senior resident doctor, she tried to kill herself by taking some pills but within hours, some of her colleagues found out about it and rushed her to the emergency department of the hospital. She is presently admitted to the hospital.