As the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency services came into force at 6 am on Saturday, the apex governing body for medical education and practice has put forward five demands including a law to ensure safety of doctors. This comes in the wake of the brutal rape and murder of a PG student at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
A statement from IMA, however, mentioned that all essential services will be maintained and casualties will be manned.
The IMA has demanded a complete overhaul of the living and working conditions of resident doctors, including the 36-hour duty shift that the victim in the RG Kar Hospital case was in and the lack of safe spaces to take rest.
The association urged for meticulous and professional investigation of the crime in a specific time period and meting out justice besides identifying and punishing the culprits behind the vandalism at RG Kar Hospital premises on the night of August 14.
IMA called for a central act that would include the amendments made in 2023 to the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 into the proposed Hospital Protection Bill of 2019 to strengthen the existing framework in 25 states. The medical body also suggested than an ordinance like the one issued during the Covid-19 pandemic might be required in this situation.
The IMA also demanded airport-like security protocols in all hospitals. The first step, it suggested, would be to declare hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements. CCTV cameras, security personnel and the protocols can follow.
An appropriate and dignified compensation should go to the bereaved family matching the cruelty inflicted on the victim.
Most hospital departments are expected to be closed during the weekend with routine outpatient departments (OPDs) and elective surgeries remaining shut.
Essential services will be operational. This includes emergency care and critical treatments which are expected to function as usual.
To handle any urgent medical needs, casualty services will be available.
All areas where modern medicine doctors work in both public and private hospitals will be affected by the strike.
