The nationwide protest by doctors of government hospitals continued for the second consecutive day on Tuesday protest against the rape-murder of a trainee doctor in West Bengal.
The protesting doctors are demanding justice for the woman postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor who was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College Hospital in West Bengal’s Kolkata last week.
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Demonstrations were held as part of the nationwide protest and shutdown of OPD elective services by Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) over the matter. Several government hospitals including the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital in New Delhi also witnessed demonstrations in support of the demand for justice for the victim.
The AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association held the demonstration at its campus demanding immediate transfer of the investigation of the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and resignation of responsible authorities of the RG Kar Medical College, adequate compensation to the victim family and immediate implementation of the Central Protection Act (CPA).
“We demand a CBI inquiry (into to the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor in West Bengal) at the earliest. We will continue our protest till a CBI probe is ordered,” said AIIMS RDA president Indra Shekhar Prasad.
He also demanded CPA to ensure the safety of doctors.
Echoing similar sentiments, AIIMS RDA Treasurer Mohit Chowdhury told The Statesman, “This is a heinous crime. Our primary demand is that the investigation should be immediately transferred to the CBI as early as possible. We also demand CPA for safety of doctors.”
The AIIMS in a statement said the emergency services and ICUs are functioning as per normal with all residents attending to their duties.
The OPDs functioning were reduced by 66 per cent as compared to routine days, while operation theatres reduced by 90 per cent.
Doctors at the RML Hospital staged protest. Holding placards, they shouted slogans demanding CBI probe over the matter.
Reportedly, huge crowd of patients were witnessed outside the OPD Block at the hospital.
In Uttar Pradesh, doctors held protest at King George’s Medical University and Hospital in Lucknow.
In a post on X, the RDA Uttar Pradesh wrote, “Massive protest with more energy is ongoing on day two at different medical colleges of UP.”
Meanwhile, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued advisory for all medical colleges and institutions for ensuring a safe workplace environment.
“Incidents of violence against doctors in medical colleges have been reported in the recent past. All Medical Colleges are requested to develop a policy for safe work environment within the College and Hospital campus for all the staff members including Faculty, medical students and resident doctors,” read the advisory.
The policy should ensure adequate safety measures at OPD, wards, casualty, hostels and other open areas in the campus and residential quarters. Corridors and campus be well lit in the evening for staff to walk safely from one place to other and all sensitive areas be covered by CCTV for monitoring, it said.
The advisory further said, “Adequate security measures including posting of adequate security staff (male and female) should be made available at the OPD, wards, casualty, labor rooms, hostels and residential quarters and other open areas in the Medical College and Hospital campus.”
“Any incident of violence against the medical students should be promptly investigated by the college management and FIR should be lodged with the Police. A detailed action taken report on any incident of violence should invariably be sent to the NMC within 48 hours of the incident,” it added.
Earlier in the day, a delegation of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) met Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda, a day after it wrote a letter over the West Bengal incident and demanded a thorough probe into the matter.
