Why are AIIMS Resident Doctors Committing Suicide?

As the year comes to a close, AIIMS is shaken with another suicide by a resident doctor--Manish Sharma, taking the toll of suicides by resident doctors to three in just one year. Earlier, Dr. Mamta Rai and Dr. Sachin Preet Singh had committed suicide in the beginning of the year.

The suicides by resident doctors have led many to point towards the underlying conditions driving the doctors into mental stress and finally towards the tragic suicides.

“There are no chairs for the doctors, in some wards there are no duty rooms for the doctors to even rest for two minutes,” said Harjeet Singh Bhati, a resident doctor at AIIMS and President of the United Residents Doctors’ Association, describing the working conditions of doctors. Further explaining the suffering of the doctors, he added, “Currently, there is one doctor in place of three needed, adding to the workload and the stress that comes with a round the clock job. With no new recruitment of the resident doctors, many have shifts stretching from 6.30 in the morning to even 2 in the next morning. The shifts of the resident doctors range from a stretch of 24- 48 hours at once. In the prescribed duty hours, this should ideally be the number of hours that people put in weekly.”

The crisis of suicides by the resident doctors at AIIMS is looming large in front of the administration. The premier medical institute has witnessed an alarming increase in suicides. Bhati said, “Previously, there would be at least one suicide in one year, however, this year’s numbers have exposed the glaring problem.” When one tries to understand the underlying factors of the issue, it becomes clear that the absence of recreational activities and the increasing mental stress add to the problem.   

Given the conditions of India’s public health, the victims are not just the patients but also the doctors. The sector is increasingly becoming cash strapped and privatised, which also explains the lack of employment generation. Speaking with NewsClick, the doctors at the association pointed out, “The solution at the core of the problem is to improve working conditions for the doctors and to recruit new doctors.”

The doctors have currently demanded fixed duty hours. The URDA is also planning to go on a Delhi wide protest to highlight these issues further. The protests are likely to take place in the last week of January and the first week of February.

In December this year, 3,000 resident doctors went on strike over the non-implementation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission (CPC). This included resident doctors from various Delhi government hospitals such as Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (DDU), and University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) among others.

The doctors have further warned of an indefinite strike if they do not receive a hike according to the recommendations of the seventh CPC. They pointed out that, “The resident doctors of various hospitals are not getting their salaries regularly and are being paid according to the 6th Pay Commission norms.”

Earlier, in April this year, resident doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had declared an indefinite strike after one of their colleagues was assaulted by a senior doctor. The resident doctors had also raised the reported misbehaviour of the senior doctor towards the female resident doctors.