All six postgraduate students of psychiatry department at Delhi government-run super-speciality hospital GB Pant have stopped working since November 22 alleging harassment by the department head and his wife, who is a faculty member in the same department.
Understanding the gravity of the situation, the government has transferred one of them, Dr Anju Lata agarwal, to her core cadre in Union health ministry.
All six junior doctors of unit II of the department have alleged physical and mental harassment by department head Dr Sanjay Agarwal and his wife Dr Anju Lata Agarwal and wrote a complaint to the hospital authorities levelling 23 allegations at them.
Staff nurses at unit II have also written to the administration complaining about mental harassment by the two doctors.
Delhi health minister Dr A K Walia said that orders have been issued to transfer Dr Arun Lata back to her core cadre at the Union health ministry after a series of complaints were made against her.
He informed that the government is seriously looking into rest of the matter.
The issue had hampered the delivery of services in the department that receives more than 300 patients a day on an average.
According to the complaint letters by PG students and staff nurses, the accused verbally abuse patients as well as junior doctors without any provocation.
The letters say junior doctors were forced to write unnecessary complaints against the nursing and cleaning staff. Juniors doctors were misbehaved with if they did not do so.
In their letter, the junior doctors have mentioned that Dr Arun Lata used to threaten that she would get the department shut down, the way she did at Lady Hardinge Medical College.
The students said they will not be able to continue their studies if such practices are not immediately stopped.
G B Pant Nurse Union’s president Amarjeet Kaur and general secretary Liladhar Ramchandani said the staff nurses were also indignant with their behaviour. Unit II now draws fewer patients because of them.
