The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday night, declared a 24-hour nationwide suspension of non-emergency services starting at 6 am on August 17. The top medical body took the decision in response to the rape and murder of a female trainee doctor at Kolkata’s state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Although essential services will continue and casualty wards will remain operational, the outpatient departments (OPDs) will be closed, and elective surgeries will be postponed. The suspension of services will apply across all sectors where modern medicine doctors are providing care, according to the IMA’s announcement.
“Subsequent to the brutal crime in RG Kar Medical College, Kolkata, and the hooliganism unleashed on the protesting students on the eve of Independence Day (Wednesday night), the Indian Medical Association declares nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors of modern medicine from 6 am on Saturday 17.08.2024 to 6 am Sunday 18.08.2024 for 24 hours,” the statement said.
“Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. Both physical assaults and crimes are a result of indifference and insensitivity of the authorities concerned to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers,” it added.
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The decision for a nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency medical services was made after a meeting between the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and its state branches. On Thursday, the IMA strongly condemned the vandalism that took place at Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, where doctors have been protesting since the evening of August 9 in response to the alleged rape and murder of a female doctor.
Earlier that day, the IMA slammed the authorities, saying that those whose negligence allowed such a heinous crime to occur have once again failed to uphold law and order during a critical CBI investigation, adding that this vandalism, committed with impunity, signals an alarming breakdown of law and order.
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According to Kolkata Police, around 40 miscreants disguised as protestors stormed the hospital, vandalized property, and threw stones at law enforcement officers. The police were forced to use tear gas to disperse the crowd.
The attackers, armed with sticks, bricks, and rods, caused significant damage to the Emergency Ward, its nursing station, a medicine store, and part of the Outpatient Department (OPD). Several CCTV cameras in the vicinity were also destroyed.
The vandals overturned a police vehicle and damaged multiple two-wheelers, while some police officers sustained injuries during the chaos.