While requesting a meeting with the minister, the IMA also made five demands to ensure the safety of doctors at hospitals.
“The entire medical fraternity of India is shocked beyond words at the brutal murder of a 2nd year lady PG student of R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata.This heinous crime has been committed inside the seminar hall on the 3rd floor of the campus. IMA understands that she was raped before the murder. This crime is an index of the anarchy and insecurity prevailing in the campus,” the IMA said in its statement.
The body of the postgraduate trainee, who was allegedly raped and murdered inside a seminar hall of the RG Kar Hospital, was found on Friday morning. A civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the case.
The doctors’ body has warned of nationwide strikes if appropriate and timely action is not taken against the accused.
Five demands of IMA
- Hospitals across the country should be declared as sae zones. Law should define the entitlement of the term safe zone.
- All major Government hospitals should have police camps and adequate security personnel.
- Similar security arrangements should be made mandatory in large private hospitals.
- CCTV cameras in vulnerable points should be made compulsory.
- 25 states have law on attack on doctors and hospitals. They are mostly ineffective on ground and do not serve the purpose of deterrence. The absence of a special central enactment is one of the reasons. We kindly request you to reconsider introducing the Draft Legislation “The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019 incorporating the amendments in the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, approved and passed by the Parliament in Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020.
Doctors begin strike
Resident doctors of government hospitals across the country went on an indefinite strike on Monday to protest the recent rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, paralysing elective services including OPDs and non-emergency surgeries. The move comes in response to a call from the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) which said the “strike won’t stop unless justice is served and our demands are met”.
According to the FORDA, during the indefinite strike, outpatient departments (OPDs), operation theatres, and ward duties will be shut, but emergency services will continue to operate as usual.
In the national capital, junior doctors from multiple hospitals, including centrally-run facilities AIIMS, RML Hospital and Safdarjung Hospital, began strike in the morning, causing hardships to patients who visited out-patient departments of the medical facilities only to be returned without any consultation.
In West Bengal, junior doctors, interns, and postgraduate trainees at government medical establishments across the state vowed to continue their agitation, now in its fourth day, until the culprits are brought to justice.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee pledged to transfer the case to the CBI if the state police fail to solve it by Sunday.