Resident doctors continue protest

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 19

With resident doctors continuing their protest at the PGI, GMCH, Sector 32; and the GMSH, Sector 16, the elective services remained suspended today.

2,248 patients examined at OPDs

As only follow-up cases were registered in the morning, 2,248 patients were examined at the OPDs of the PGI. On a normal day, the health institution sees 10,000 registrations, including new cases.

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As only follow-up cases were registered in the morning, 2,248 patients were examined at the OPDs of the PGI. On a normal day, the health institution sees 10,000 registrations, including follow-ups and new cases. The resident doctors have been on strike since Monday.

“We came to Chandigarh on Friday. Since the residents are on strike, my mother has not been examined. I buy her medicines from a chemist shop and that is how she gets relief from pain in her ear. We cannot afford treatment in a private hospital. We are waiting for the protest to end,” said Paramjit Singh, who had come from Hoshiarpur.

Marking the occasion of Rakhi, the resident doctors tied rakhis to security personnel, policemen, workers and fellow doctors in the morning. “We work safely because of their presence. Many of us are from far-flung areas and do not have their families here. For us, these policemen and guards are like our brothers who protect us,” said a young resident doctor from Himachal.

Around 6 pm, the residents and various associations of the PGI took a pledge to raise awareness regarding the safety of women and educate children on the same. Later in the day, the protesting doctors took out a “light for right” march from the PGI campus to the Sector 17 Plaza.

Around 10:30 am, the residents marched towards the Kairon Block on the campus and handed over a memorandum to the Director, Dr Vivek Lal. Carrying banners and posters, they raised slogans demanding justice for the victim of the Kolkata incident. “Hands that heal should not bleed,” read one of the banners.

A woman resident doctor was allegedly raped and murdered in RG Kar Medical College of Kolkata. The doctors have also demanded the enactment of ‘Central Protection Act’, which would have provisions of stringent punishment for people indulging in violence against medical staff.