IMA Doctors Nationwide Strike News Live Updates: Bengal guv seeks time to meet Shah, Nadda

Healthcare services in Mizoram were severely hit as doctors in the state joined the nationwide protest demanding justice for the alleged rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata, an official said. Services at the out-patient department (OPD) and non-essential units have been suspended in all the state-run hospitals, private facilities and church-run medical establishments, Indian Medical Association Mizoram state branch president Dr John Zohmingthanga said.
Apart from OPD, all private clinics were also closed in protest against the alleged rape and murder of the doctor, he said.

Only emergency services and blood banks were functional across the state, the official said.

Doctors held protests at many places in Punjab and Haryana on Saturday against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee woman doctor at a hospital in Kolkata and demanded safety for healthcare professionals at workplaces. Outpatient department services remained non-functional and elective surgeries were also not conducted at hospitals in the two states but emergency services were not affected, according to the protesting doctors.

Doctors including private medical practitioners took part in protests in Telangana on Saturday as part of the nationwide protest call given by the India Medical Association against the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata. As part of the protests, major hospitals in the private sector stopped outpatient services and elective surgeries while outpatient services were suspended in government hospitals in Telangana.

Students at the esteemed Dhaka University in Bangladesh held a protest in solidarity with ongoing demonstrations regarding the rape and murder of a woman trainee doctor at R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata, India. The protest, organized under the banner "Awaaz Tolo Nari" (Raise Your Voice, Women), took place on Friday at the Raju Sculpture in Dhaka University. Demonstrators carried placards with messages such as "Hang the Rapists," "Am I Next?," "Stop Violence," and "Don't Be an Alpha Male, Question What It Represents," according to the Dhaka Tribune.

In a letter presented to chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday, the association also sought review of medical facilities across Goa to ensure workplace safety of medical professionals, laws governing safety of medical professionals and provisions to fast track cases of violence and crime against medical professionals.

In a tweet, The British Medical Association expressed, "The BMA is horrified by the rape and murder of a woman junior doctor in the hospital where she worked in Kolkata, India. This awful act demonstrates the importance of tackling gender-based violence. This should never be a risk that any doctor ever faces in their place of work.

We stand in solidarity with doctors in Kolkata and across India at this upsetting time, and support their call over urgent measures to improve the safety of female doctors in the workplace, including providing secure and private spaces for doctors to use while on shift.

No doctor should ever have to fear this sort of violence.

If you are a UK doctor or medical student and have been affected by this news, the BMA’s wellbeing services are here to support you."

In view of the concerns expressed by FORDA, IMA and Resident Doctors’ Associations of Governmental Medical Colleges & Hospitals of Delhi, the Ministry assured them of constituting a committee to suggest all such possible measures for ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals. Representatives of all stakeholders including the State Governments will be invited to share their suggestions with the committee. The ministry requested the agitating doctors to resume their duties in the larger public interest and in view of the rising cases of Dengue and Malaria: Ministry of health and family welfare

"Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has reached Bengaluru amid slogans being raised against the Governor... I want to ask him, you have reached Bengaluru to protect the corrupt, but will you go to Kolkata? Will Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi go to Kolkata?"

"The incident is very unfortunate...The doctors are protesting against the incident throughout the nation. CBI is investigating the incident and the culprit should get strict punishment. I urge the Central government to not delay in providing protection to the doctors which is one of the demands raised by them..."

On Karnataka Governor granting permission to prosecute CM Siddaramaiah in the alleged MUDA scam, he says, "These kinds of decisions are taken by the Governor after consulting with the central government..."

Healthcare services took a hit across West Bengal on Saturday as doctors joined their junior colleagues in the cease work, demanding justice for the rape and murder of a medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Junior doctors began the stir eight days ago, and with the seniors joining in following a call by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), services at the outpatient departments of both government and private hospitals were affected.

"Our agitation will continue. This is the only way to get our demands fulfilled. How can people get inside the hospital and attack us even when the police are present? We can understand the actual motive of the vandalism," a protesting doctor said.

Non-essential healthcare services at the state-run SSKM Hospital, Sambhunath Pandit Hospital, and Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, among others, were crippled because of the agitation. Similar was the scene at the private healthcare facilities in the state.

Doctors staged a protest at RGGH in Chennai on Saturday demands justice for the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata recently.

Doctors and students from Stanley Medical College in Chennai boycotted outpatient work for an hour between 7:30 am and 8:30 am. During this time, students, doctors, and IMA representatives held a protest and marched within the campus until 10:30 am. The rally was joined by State Joint Secretary Dr Boopathy, along with Dr Anbarasu, Dr CMK Reddy, and Dr Vaishali. According to Dr G Chandrasekar, president of the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association in Chennai, a candlelight demonstration will be organized in the evening.

Most private hospitals in Chennai, including Apollo Hospitals, MGM Hospitals, and SIMS Hospitals, have put up notices requesting patients to reschedule their outpatient consultations on Saturday. Non-emergency services, including elective surgeries, have been postponed.

"I have come here for a check-up... Now, I have been told to come on Tuesday. We want hospitals to be operational soon so that we can get treatment," says one of the patients facing problems.

The National Indian Medical Association (IMA) demanded that all hospitals in the country should be declared as safe zones and have security measures similar to those in airports. Dr RV Asokan, national president of IMA, said the guilty in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case should be arrested and no one should be spared, including doctors if found to be involved.Hospitals need to be declared as safe zones and there should be safety protocols in place, just like at airports, he added.

The streets of Hyderabad reverberated with the chants of ‘No safety, No duty’ as over 1,500 young doctors – donning their white coats – marched through the main roads of the city, on Friday, further intensifying their protest against the gruesome rape-murder of a medico at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital.

At the campuses of Osmania General Hospital (OGH) and Osmania Medical College (OMC), about a thousand doctors boycotted OP services and walked for 3 km – – along with members of the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) – raising slogans and holding placards, demanding speedy justice for the victim’s kin, and implementation of doctor safety laws across Telangana and India.

TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien said that the deadline set by the CM Mamata Banerjee for the Kolkata Police to complete their investigation should also apply to the CBI. Earlier, CM Mamata Banerjee on Friday set a deadline till August 18 for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to complete its investigation into the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the R.G.Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata last week. CM also said that if the CBI fails to meet the deadline, Trinamool Congress will stage protests in the national capital on this issue.

Doctors across Assam on Saturday joined the nationwide protest against the rape and murder of a doctor in a Kolkata hospital, demanding exemplary punishment for the culprits and a central law to ensure safety of medical professionals. Out-patient and non-essential services came to a near halt in all hospitals as doctors assembled on the premises, wearing black badges and displaying placards to press for their demands.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) had declared a nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency medical services for 24 hours from 6 am on August 17 to protest against the crime.

The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service, the doctors' body said.

Former principal at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandip Ghosh reaches CBI office.

"Because of the incident that happened in West Bengal, the safety of the medical staff is a matter of concern. It is not just about the medical fraternity of the doctors and nurses. This is a nationwide issue. It is a security and a societal issue. It is a matter of concern for everyone. The general public is also agitated," said Union minister Kiren Rijiju

Residents Doctors hold a protest at the Indian Medical Association (IMA) against the rape-murder incident at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital

BJP MP Harsh Malhotra said, "It is extremely unfortunate that the West Bengal government is being insensitive towards the case, is lying, and is trying to cover up the case instead of addressing it. They tried to hush up the case by calling it suicide. The local police were not ready to investigate it initially and tried to divert it. Now when CBI is investigating the matter, Mamata Banerjee started protesting. Who is she protesting against? The Home Minister of the state Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of the state Mamata Banerjee, or is she protesting against the Health Minister of the state Mamata Banerjee? This shows she is not serious about it and is only doing politics."

Her Advocate Satyam Singh says, "... Dr Monica Singh has written a letter petition to the Chief Justice of India, demanding CAPF be deployed at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital for the security of doctors till the time there is pendency of the case and the to protect the crime scene. She has also written about the way people are being threatened and evidence being tampered with, and demanded SC to intervene and take cognisance."

Resident Doctors' Association UCMS (University College of Medical Sciences) and GTBH (Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital) will continue their strike today. They will have a General body meeting at 9.30am.

As part of the strike, OPD (Outpatient Department), elective services, laboratory and lab services will be shut down.

Protests have erupted worldwide, from New York City's Times Square to Canada, the UK, Germany, and Bangladesh, in a show of solidarity with those in Kolkata demanding justice for the RG Kar rape-murder victim. Demonstrations are being organized across the globe. Sayantan Das, who participated at the midnight protest at Times Square on Aug 14, said there were around 40 people who gathered in a show of solidarity with students and women in Bengal."Some scientists and researchers of New York organized the protest and we carried leaflets and posters. There were many Indians who were nearby and they asked us about the incident. Finally, when we sang the National Anthem, they joined us," Das said.

IMA has declared a 24-hour withdrawal of services by all the modern medicine doctors of the country irrespective of the sector and place of work. Emergencies and casualties will function. No OPDs. No elective surgeries. The withdrawal commenced at 6 am today and will end at 6am on Sunday, August 18, 2024.

On the night of August 14, chaos erupted at RG Kar Hospital, leaving many people deeply shaken. A violent mob stormed the hospital, targeting patients, staff, and property. Nurses, security guards, and visitors alike were caught in the midst of the terrifying ordeal, facing immense fear and danger.

The indefinite strike by resident doctors in Maharashtra intensified on its fourth day on Friday, with their seniors joining the protest, leading to disruption in services at government and civic hospitals that inconvenienced thousands of patients. Resident doctors in the state launched an indefinite strike on Tuesday morning to express solidarity with the nationwide agitation against the rape-murder of a post-graduate trainee in Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. On the fourth day of the resident doctor's strike, elective services, including OPDs, OTs and lab procedures, remained affected due to the strike. Emergency services, however, continued uninterrupted, said officials.

Amid the ongoing protests in Kolkata over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, junior doctors Rumalika Kumar and Riya Bera, from RG Kar, expressed dissatisfaction, stating that their demands for justice have not been met. They also called for the immediate arrest of all culprits with proper evidence.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Friday, Kumar said, "Due to non-transparency, the investigation has been transferred from the Kolkata police to the CBI. However, even after 48 hours, our demands for justice have not been fulfilled at all. We have no clarity regarding the ongoing investigation."

Addressing the same issue, Bera added, "We demand the immediate arrest of all culprits, backed by proper evidence, along with an official press release from the CBI confirming the same, a written apology, and the resignation of higher authorities, including the former principal."

"The RG Kar incident has brought to the fore two dimensions of violence in the hospital: A crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women and the hooliganism that is unleashed due to lack of an organised security protocol. The crime and the vandalism have shocked the conscience of the nation. Today, both the medical fraternity and the nation are victims," the IMA statement said.

Resident doctors of Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH) in Bihar went on an indefinite strike on Friday, against the sexual assault and murder of a trainee doctor and the subsequent vandalism at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. In solidarity with the junior doctors, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) of Bihar also suspended OPD services.

With member doctors of the Indian Medical Association going on strike on Saturday against the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the Karnataka government on Friday suspended the leaves of the medical officers and surgeons of government hospitals. In a circular, the Health and Family Welfare Department said all the district health and family welfare officers and district surgeons along with the administrative officers of all the hospitals should ensure that emergency services are not affected, causing trouble for people.

IMA has called for a comprehensive reform of the working and living conditions of resident doctors. This includes addressing the 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the absence of secure areas for rest.

IMA has urged for hospitals to be classified as safe zones, with mandatory security entitlements being the initial step. The organization has also demanded a thorough and professional investigation of the crime within a specific timeframe, as well as the delivery of justice. This includes identifying those responsible for vandalizing the hospital premises and imposing severe penalties.

The association has also asked that the bereaved family receive a suitable and respectful compensation that is proportionate to the brutality inflicted upon them.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced a nationwide strike, halting non-emergency medical services for a 24-hour period starting from 6 am on August 17. The strike is in response to the tragic rape and murder of a resident doctor at a hospital in Kolkata. The IMA said, "All essential services will be maintained and casualties will be manned."

During the strike, routine outpatient departments (OPDs) will remain closed, and elective surgeries will be postponed. The withdrawal of services will affect all sectors where modern medicine doctors are providing care. The IMA's decision to strike aims to draw attention to the safety concerns faced by medical professionals and the need for better security measures in healthcare facilities across the country.