Kolkata doctor rape-murder: IMA declares nationwide strike today; OPDs, elective surgeries shut

The Indian Medical Association IMA has declared a 24hour withdrawal of services by all the modern medicine doctors of the country irrespective of the sector and place of work in response to nationwide outrage over the rape and murder of a secondyear trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College reported news agency ANIEmergencies and casualties will function No OPDs No elective surgeries The withdrawal commenced at 6 am on Saturday and will end at 6 am on Sunday August 18 2024 the IMA saidResident Doctors Association UCMS University College of Medical Sciences and GTBH Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in Delhi will continue their strike today They will have a General body meeting at 930 am As part of the strike OPD Outpatient Department elective services laboratory and lab services will be shut down reported ANIResident Doctors Associations of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital and Madras Medical College also organised a boycott protest in Chennai against the incident of Kolkata doctor rapemurderA protesting resident doctor in Chennai said that emergency services will continue during the strike over the Kolkata doctor rapemurderIn accordance with the IMA notification we are going for a boycott of all our elective services Emergency services will continue All we are asking for is justice for the victim and her family We are with them It has been a week but no serious investigation has been done in the case Some scapegoats have been arrested but the original culprits are still out there he said reported ANIIn Mumbai a relative of a patient at Sion Hospital said that his patient is in the intensive care unit ICU and the service at the hospital is running smoothly despite the nationwide strike over the Kolkata doctor rapemurderOur patient is in ICU The services are proper We dont have any problem But I think that what happened in Kolkata is wrong Those who have done wrong should be punished Doctors are serving the people selflessly The government and the people should support them The services at the hospital are running smoothly he said reported ANIAnother relative of a patient at Sion Hospital in Mumbai said that there are fewer doctors but the services are running smoothly reported ANIWe are facing difficulties But because of the incident that happened there will be difficulties What needs to be done has to be done The doctors will not leave their strike until there is a solution There are fewer doctors but the services are running smoothly he said reported ANIThe Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital also announced a nationwide strike over the Kolkata doctor rapemurderMeanwhile on call for a nationwide doctors strike General Secretary of the Indian Medical Association Anil Kumar J Nayak said that all IMA members will observe the strike on Saturday Only emergency amp casualty services will be available Three days ago we spoke to Union Health Minister JP Nadda on the law to curb attacks against doctors and he was very positive NMC also has issued circulars over the security and management of CCTV cameras We say that we will do duty if there is security Today there are over 6037 of women doctors he said reported ANIHe further mentioned We met the victims family who were treated poorly by the hospital administration We urge the National Commission for Women to visit Kolkata Although we havent been able to meet the Chief Minister weve presented our demands which include safety and security for women All junior and resident doctors across the country are on strike This is a crucial moment for unity its a doordie situation reported ANIA nationwide withdrawal of services has been announced by doctors of modern medicine starting from 6 am on Saturday August 17 to 6 am Sunday August 18 per the official statement released by the Indian Medical Association IMA on Thursday reported ANINotably the strike has been called by IMA amid the ongoing protest in Kolkata over the Kolkata doctor rapemurder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical CollegeIn its official statement IMA stated that routine OPDs and elective surgeries will not take place during those 24 hours however other essential services will be maintainedOn August 9 a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata which led to nationwide strikes and protests by the medical fraternityThe incident triggered massive protests On Wednesday the protest ground and the hospital campus at RG Kar were vandalised by a mob forcing the security personnel to disperse the crowdWith inputs from ANI