Hospitals in Delhi and Kolkata were most affected as the two cities emerged as the epicentres of the protest.
A spokesperson of the Federation of All India Medical Association (Faima) told TOI that more hospitals are likely to join the protests and suspend OPD and elective surgeries from Tuesday to demand a CBI inquiry into the incident and urgent implementation of a central law to prevent violence against healthcare workers. “Resident doctors from states like Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand and Gujarat, among others, will join the protest from Tuesday onwards,” said Faima founder Dr Manish Jangra.
On Thursday night, the mutilated body of a 32-year-old doctor was found in the seminar hall of R G Kar Medical College & Hospital. The initial autopsy report stated that the victim was bleeding from her eyes, mouth and private parts.
Dr Jangra said the incident is horrifying and as dastardly as the Nirbhaya incident of 2012. “We will continue our protests and even escalate it further if an independent inquiry, preferably by CBI, and law to make hospital campuses more secure isn’t ensured,” the Faima founder said.
Meanwhile, hospitals said they are preparing plans to ensure patient services are minimally affected by the strike. The administration of AIIMS Delhi, which saw nearly 80% reduction in elective surgeries and 35% fall in admissions on Monday, said it has prepared a contingency plan to ensure critical and other patient care services do not get affected.
Delhi’s RML Hospital, another central government-run facility, also issued an order asking all HODs to submit an action plan in view of the strike by its resident doctors’ association so that patient-care is minimally disrupted.
In Kolkata, the strike by junior doctors continued to affect the functioning of government hospitals across the city, causing significant disruptions to patient care. There seems to be no immediate relief for patients in sight as the governing bodies of all state medical colleges, who met at the R G Kar campus on Monday evening, decided to carry on with the agitation.
According to the Federation of Resident Doctors Association (Forda), during the indefinite strike, all outpatient departments and operation theatres will remain shut and ward duties will not be provided. Emergency services, however, will continue to operate as usual, it added.
In Uttar Pradesh, protests were held at King George’s Medical University, Kalyan Singh Super Speciality Cancer Institute and Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences. Tying black ribbons on their hands and holding placards, the protesting doctors demanded a thorough probe and security for medical staff in hospitals.
Protests were also held in Maharani Laxmibai Medical College, UP University of Medical Sciences (Saifai), SN Medical College (Agra) and a hospital in Kanpur.
Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors announced a statewide strike starting Tuesday, halting all services except emergency care. In a statement, MARD said that authorities must speed up formation of an expert committee for implementation of the Central Healthcare Protection Act, improve security measures, including deployment of fully functional CCTVs and well-equipped guards for better safety of healthcare workers, apart from providing quality hostels and proper on-call rooms for resident doctors.
In Chandigarh, over 100 elective surgeries were halted and OPD services were impacted as resident doctors at PGI went on an indefinite strike. GMCH doctors are set to join the strike from Tuesday.
Resident doctors in Jammu staged a peaceful protest, suspending their regular work to demand justice.
Doctors in several other states, including Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, also joined the strike.
Meanwhile, Indian Medical Association has shot off a letter to Union health minister J P Nadda seeking urgent action to make hospital premises safe. IMA, in its letter, said hospitals across the country should be declared as safe zones, just like airports. All major government and private hospitals should have police camps and adequate security personnel, it added.
“We can never fathom out why our airports are safe zones with three-layer security while hospitals are given a pause. Neither do we understand why violence on airline staff and their work disruptions deserve special legislation while doctors and hospitals are expected to fend for themselves,” IMA said.