The 24-four nationwide strike by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to protest the rape and murder of a resident doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar hospital began on Saturday at 6 am. All medical services, except essential services and casualties, will be affected by the strike which will last till Sunday 6 am.
The routine OPDs (Out Patient Department) will not function and elective surgeries will not be performed across hospitals in the country where evidence-based medicine is practiced, the IMA said.
Doctors across cities have been staging protests on Friday, demanding justice for the 31-year-old trainee doctor who was brutally murdered.
#WATCH | Uttarakhand: Doctor and nursing staff in Rishikesh held a protest against the incident of rape and murder of a woman doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2024
(Earlier visuals) pic.twitter.com/s3zJtr4QDH
Demands of IMA
The IMA, on Friday, came out with a list of five demands that include an overhaul of the working and living conditions of doctors including changing the the 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces in hospitals to rest.
#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | Junior doctor Riya Bera says, "We demand arrest of all the culprits immediately with proper evidence with an official press release confirming the same by the CBI, written apology and order of resignation of higher… pic.twitter.com/ZTvTfvaDE8
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2024
The forum observed that the crime and the vandalism that followed have shocked the conscience of the nation and added that both the medical fraternity and the nation are victims.
The association demanded that hospitals be declared safe zones with the first step being mandatory security entitlements.
"The security protocols of all hospitals should be no less than (that of) an airport. Declaring the hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements is the first step. CCTVs, deployment of security personnel and the protocols can follow," the association said in a statement.
#WATCH | RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape-murder case | Junior doctor Rumalika Kumar says, "Due to non-transparency, the investigation process has been shifted from Kolkata police to the CBI. But even after 48 hours, the demands of justice that we had are not fulfilled at… pic.twitter.com/WtAWI2Mltv
— ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2024
Further, IMA called for a thorough probe into the murder of the trainee doctor and speedy justice, besides identifying those involved in the vandalism of the hospital premises.
The IMA also sought appropriate and dignified compensation to the bereaved family.
"The RG Kar incident has brought to the fore two dimensions of violence in the hospital: A crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women and the hooliganism that is unleashed due to lack of an organised security protocol,” the IMA statement read.
