The Federation of Resident Doctors' Associations said the extension of their indefinite strike in response to the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata after a meeting with officials from the Union health ministry, did not yield a resolution.
Here are the top ten updates:
1. Nagpur, Maharashtra: Doctors and medical students stage a protest in front of OPD of Govt Medical College & Hospital Nagpur (GMCH). FAIMA (Federation of All India Medical Association) calls for a nationwide shutdown of OPD services from today, August 13, as a protest against the sexual assault and murder of a woman post-graduate trainee (PGT) doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on August 9.
2. Dr Akshay Dongardive said, “...This is a major rape-murder case after the Nirbhaya incident. It puts us all to shame...We have joined in the nationwide protest. All resident doctors across all government hospitals in Maharashtra are observing suspension of services today. Emergency services are still operational, patients are not facing any issues. We demand justice for our sister with whom injustice has been done. We request the State Government and Centre to intervene and order a CBI inquiry at the earliest...All demands of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital doctors should be met.”
3. Sheikh Shahzad, a patient, said, “We have not been told anything so far. I asked the security guard here but he said that he is unable to tell us anything...We are standing here for 2 hours now. We have no information. The administration is not telling us anything. We are being asked for our prescription to enter.”
4. Meanwhile, Junior doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on Monday questioned why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee set a seven-day deadline for solving the rape-murder of a postgraduate trainee, asserting they would continue their strike until their demands are met.
5. BMC MARD General Secretary Dr Akshay Dongardive said that the culprits of the incident should be punished, our national campaign has started for this. “This campaign is going on in all the states. Maharashtra has called for a strike from 9 AM, all the doctors of Maharashtra are going to strike work from 9 AM, and BMC doctors are also going to strike work... The victim's family should get justice, the case should be investigated by CBI and the family should get compensation. We demand that there should be justice... We have stopped non-emergency services in all hospitals of Maharashtra, emergency services will continue. Patients will not face any problems... We only want justice,” he added.
6. Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar said that the CM is delaying it. “If she wants to have a CBI inquiry in this matter, she should hand it over soon as proofs in such cases do not remain for many days,” he added.
7. As reported by PTI, Roy, who is a trained boxer, got close to a few senior police officers over the years, following which he was moved to the Kolkata Police Welfare Board and posted to the police outpost at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where the incident happened.
8. The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a thorough and impartial investigation into the case and for the West Bengal government to ensure the perpetrators are punished. The IMA has also written to Union Minister JP Nadda, requesting a detailed inquiry into the factors that allowed the crime to occur and urging steps to enhance the safety of doctors, particularly women, in the workplace.
9. The semi-naked body of the 32-year-old woman was found in the seminar hall of the government-run hospital in Kolkata on Thursday night. In response, doctors organized a protest march under the banner of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), PGIMER, chanting “we want justice” and demanding accountability for the victim.
10. In the national capital, other major hospitals which participated in the strike included the Maulana Azad Medical College, RML Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College, VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Institute of Human Behaviour, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Institute of Medical Sciences and Allied Sciences (IHBAS), Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical College, and National Institute of TB and Respiratory Diseases Hospital.
(With inputs from agencies)
