Kolkata medic rape-murder: As doctors in several hospitals across country on strike, patients feel the heat

Kolkata, August 13

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Junior doctors across West Bengal continued cease work on Tuesday protesting the rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata and demanding justice for her.

The stir affected healthcare services as long queues of patients were seen at out-patient departments (OPDs) of all government hospitals since early Tuesday morning as senior doctors were substituting their junior counterparts to address the rush.

The agitating junior doctors, who have been pressing for magisterial probe into the killing of the woman doctor and removal of senior officials from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, on Tuesday set a deadline of August 14 for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation.

In Delhi, resident doctors' strike entered second day, while junior doctors boycotted work at Ranchi's RIMS over the incident.

In Jaipur, too, government doctors went on strike. In Maharashtra, resident doctors started an indefinite strike in support of the nationwide protests by their colleagues.

“The cease work and protest will continue till our demands are met. We have been very clear about our demands. We want a judicial probe into the incident,” a protesting junior doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital said.

“Why do they need a deadline till Sunday? We are asking the police to complete their investigation by Wednesday,” he added.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after paying a visit to the parents of the deceased on Monday, gave a deadline of August 18 to Kolkata Police to solve the case, failing which she said she would hand over the matter to the CBI.

The body of a woman doctor was found in a seminar hall at the hospital on Friday morning, and a civic volunteer was arrested on Saturday in connection with the crime.

Till Sunday, junior doctors had attended to emergency duties, but from Monday morning, they stopped all work. The state government has cancelled the leaves of all senior doctors to handle the influx of patients, mostly in the OPDs.

Talking about managing the rush of patients, an official of state-run SSKM Hospital said that since most of the senior doctors were present on Monday, the pressure could be well tackled.

However, some patients, scheduled to get admitted at different hospitals for surgeries, had to return home after they were given an alternate date by the authorities.

Saiful Alam, a resident of Murshidabad district, reached Kolkata on Sunday evening to get admitted at Shambhunath Pandit Hospital early on Monday.

“I had come to Kolkata on Sunday evening and spent the entire night on the hospital premises. But the next morning, I was given another date for admission,” Alam claimed.

Similar scenario was witnessed in other hospitals as patients coming to visit doctors at the OPD or getting admitted for scheduled surgeries were sent back home after rescheduling their appointments.

As fallout of the protests, the hospital's principal Sandip Ghosh resigned on Monday morning, but was moved to the Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital (CNMC).

Junior doctors, interns and house staffers expressed their reservations against Ghosh being moved to the CNMC and locked the doors of the chamber on Monday night.

“We will not allow a person like Sandip Ghosh to take charge of CNMC. We are not feeling secure about this posting. We will not allow him to enter CNMC,” one of the agitating junior doctors said.

The doctors, who have been sitting on guard in front of the principal's office, also denied to talk to Trinamool Congress leader and Entally MLA Swarna Kamal Saha and state Disaster Management Minister Javed Khan, who went there this morning. The agitators also asked Saha, who is also the chairman of the medical college's Rogi Kalyan Samiti, and Khan to leave the hospital premises immediately.

Meanwhile, elective services in government hospitals in Delhi remained shut on Tuesday as a resident doctors' strike entered its second day.

Resident doctors of government hospitals across the country went on an indefinite strike on Monday to protest against the incident at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, paralysing services such as OPDs (out-patient departments) and non-emergency surgeries.

The stir was in response to a call from the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA), which said, “The strike will not be lifted until justice is served and our demands are met.”

In Maharashtra, resident doctors started an indefinite strike on Tuesday morning in support of the nationwide protests by their colleagues.

All elective services in hospitals across the state have been halted, but emergency services will continue uninterrupted, Maharashtra State Association of Residential Doctors (Central-MARD) president Dr Pratik Debaje told PTI.

In Ranchi, junior doctors at state-run Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) on Tuesday started 'pen-down' agitation by boycotting OPD services and elective surgeries in protest against the rape and murder of a woman doctor in Kolkata.

However, they continued to attend emergency services at the premier hospital.

“Around 200 doctors have joined the agitation and senior resident doctors have also supported our stir. Our protest excludes emergency services as we do not want any patient in need to suffer,” Ankit Kumar, president of Junior Doctors' Association (JDA) at RIMS, told PTI.

“Apart from a CBI probe, we also demand the safety of doctors at workplace,” he added.

In Jaipur, medical services at government facilities, including the largest state-run Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital, were affected as resident doctors went on a strike. However, emergency services are not impacted, they said.

On Monday evening, the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors (JARD) announced immediate suspension of non-essential services.

They are demanding a transparent investigation in the rape-murder case, the resignation of responsible authorities, compensation to her family, implementation of a central law for their protection, and workplace safety measures at all medical colleges across the country.