Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) claim that they are at their wits-end with the series of thefts that have taken place since the beginning of this year at this prestigious institute.
The latest happened early this week on Friday where belongings, including an iPad, an Aadhaar card, an ATM card and a voter card of a senior gynaecologist were allegedly stolen from the hospital’s premises.
CCTV promise
“In the past three months, 10 laptops and iPads were stolen from the hospital. When a similar case was reported last time, the hospital administration promised that CCTVs will be installed but, so far, there has been no movement on this front,” said a senior doctor.
The police complaint filed with the Hauz Khas police station noted that a “yellow bag containing an iPad worth ₹70,000, an ATM card, a voter card, and an Aadhaar card of the senior doctor were stolen during the day time from the room no. 5 in Gynaecology OPD”.
The last such incident took place on March 20 when three laptops were stolen from the paediatrics ward, while the doctors were attending a seminar. At that time, the hospital administration had promised that CCTV cameras will be installed throughout the hospital’s premises by April 2. “A promise that hasn’t so far materialised,” said a senior doctor.
The doctors here say that increasing number of theft cases at AIIMS has left the hospital staff perplexed and worried.
Previously, the AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) had threatened to boycott OPD duties if the administration fails to take action. The association had also written to the institute’s dean Dr. Y.K. Gupta, complaining about the multiple thefts occurring at AIIMS.
Dr. Harjit Singh Bhatti, president of RDA noted that the repeated incidents of thefts at AIIMS has left a negative impact on the staff which is already working under a lot of stress.
They should be allowed to work without thinking about the basic safety of their belongings. “The administration should provide adequate security system including installing CCTV cameras and establishing central monitoring security system to avoid recurrence of thefts,” he said.
