Firdous Parray
Srinagar, August 17: Scores of medical students and doctors in Kashmir joined the nationwide doctors’ strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) that began today at 6 am. The IMA doctors’ 24-hour strike has been joined by more and more doctors nationwide as the organization has put forth five demands in front of the government.
The withdrawal of services is from 6 a.m. on Saturday (August 17, 2024) to 6 a.m. on Sunday (August 18, 2024), impacting outpatient services and elective surgeries. “All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function, and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service. IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors,” read an IMA press release.
Doctors across the country have led the protests following the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the R.G. Kar Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.
What are the five demands by IMA amid the nationwide doctors’ strike?
- Change in the government’s reluctance to acknowledge the violence on doctors and hospitals. For this, IMA demanded a Central Act incorporating the amendments of 2023 in the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 into the draft Hospital Protection Bill of 2019 that would strengthen the existing 25 state legislations.
- Stringent security protocols for all hospitals, which should be no less than those existing at airports. Declaration of hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements.
- A thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of doctors.
- Meticulous and professional investigation of the Kolkata doctor rape case and the thorough investigation of the R.G. Kar vandalism incident.
- Appropriate and dignified compensation to the victim’s family.
Meanwhile, hospital services across India have been disrupted as hundreds of thousands of doctors, nurses, and other medical staff launched an indefinite strike.
Protesters demanded “justice for our didi [elder sister]” outside the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, where the 31-year-old postgraduate trainee was found dead.
The doctors quoted by ‘The Independent’ unanimously agreed that the facility lacked safety measures for medical workers.
The demonstrations ensued last week after the resident doctor was found dead inside a seminar hall of the hospital on Friday. An autopsy later confirmed that she had been sexually assaulted.
“She was very close to me – she taught me most of the work I know today,” a student at the medical college, who did not want to be named, told The Independent. “I was working in the same department as an intern last year where she was found dead. This could happen to any of us in the future due to the lack of security measures,” the student said.
“We want the hospital authorities to take responsibility. What are they hiding?” the student added.
The local police arrested a civil volunteer associated with the Kolkata Police, Sanjay Roy, and remanded him to 14 days of custody. The suspect has been charged with rape and murder.
The protesting doctors in Kolkata and elsewhere have called for an unbiased investigation into the killing, the resignation of all responsible hospital authorities, adequate security for all medical staff, and the speedy ratification of a healthcare protection law, as reported by The Independent.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, scores of medical students and doctors in parts of Kashmir joined the nationwide doctors’ strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Reports reaching Kashmir Despatch said that doctors and medical students at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, Sub-district hospital Sopore, and SDH Karalpora registered their protest against the brutal rape and murder of a doctor from Kolkata.
The protestors expressed their outrage and demanded justice for the victim, condemning the horrific act and calling for stricter measures to protect women and ensure such incidents do not recur.
Similar reports were received from other parts of Kashmir as well.
(With Agency Inputs )
