The Resident Doctors Association (RDA) at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, has announced that they will offer elective outpatient services in front of Nirman Bhawan starting at 11 am on August 19. This initiative forms a key part of their continued protest in response to the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. The press release by RDA informed that the doctors will continue the strike as their demands have not been addressed.
According to the release, the RDA announced that resident doctors will provide elective outpatient services for approximately 36 specialties, including medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, ophthalmology, and orthopedics, outside Nirman Bhawan starting August 19. Emergency services at the hospitals will continue as usual.
This decision follows a meeting between the Action Committee for the Central Protection Act and the general body of RDA AIIMS. During the meeting, it was unanimously decided to extend the strike, as key demands remain unmet. The ongoing strike includes the suspension of academic activities, elective OPD services, ward and operating theater (OT) services, while emergency services, intensive care units (ICUs), emergency procedures, and emergency OT services will remain operational.
The RDA AIIMS’ strike is part of a broader protest addressing safety concerns and calling for stronger protective measures following the recent rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The statement also emphasized that this measure was taken to serve patient care needs in the interest of the nation and in accordance with the doctors’ Hippocratic oath while drawing attention to the inadequate security for healthcare professionals across the country.
The RDA AIIMS appealed to the government to urgently implement a central ordinance to enhance the safety and security of healthcare workers and institutions. They also requested that authorities facilitate and support the provision of elective outpatient services outside Nirman Bhawan.
On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata was reportedly raped and murdered while on duty, triggering widespread strikes and protests across the medical community nationwide.
By August 14, the situation escalated when a mob vandalized the protest site and the hospital campus at RG Kar. This led to a response from security forces, who were deployed to disperse the crowd and restore order.