New Delhi: Several doctors and nurses at AIIMS have been forcibly evicted from their rented homes by landlords due to the fear that it would make them more susceptible to novel coronavirus, the premier hospital’s Resident Doctor’s Association has said in a plea for help sent to the Prime Minister’s Office and the health ministry.
Alleging discrimination and harassment, the letter states that many doctors and other healthcare professionals have been stranded on roads with nowhere to go after being driven out of their rented homes.
The medical professionals, the letter says, face constant harassment as they are in touch with both suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients. Some societies have also stopped them from entering, the doctors said.
This, ironically, comes just two days after Indians took to their balconies and streets at 5 pm on Sunday to collectively commemorate the dedication and hard work of public health workers in containing the coronavirus pandemic after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal.
In the last few days, several stories of harassment faced by doctors have also surfaced on social media.
Apart from frontline health workers, national carrier Air India and the country's largest domestic carrier IndiGo have also said that their crew has faced instances of being ostracized from their communities due to their travel history in wake of Covid-19 outbreak.
Asking the government to intervene, the AIIMS’s Resident Doctor’s Association has asked that an order be issued prohibiting landlords and home-owners from evicting medical professionals working tirelessly amid the outbreak. “This would ensure our selfless service to our country in crucial time of COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.
The association further said that the lockdown across the country has also created problems for healthcare professionals in reaching hospitals and asked that arrangements be made for them.
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