Kolkata hospital horror: Doctors' strike in NE states hit healthcare services

Healthcare services have been severely affected in all the northeastern states due to a nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) over the ghastly incident of rape and murder of a woman doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, an official said on Saturday.

The 24-hour-long strike has led to the complete shutdown of the Outpatient Departments (OPDs). However, only emergency services were provided to the patients by the doctors.

The IMA called the nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors from 6 a.m. on Saturday to 6 a.m. on Sunday to protest the rape and brutal murder of 31-year-old PG trainee female doctor in Kolkata on August 9.

In Tripura, besides the IMA state unit, All Tripura Government Doctors' Association and various other doctors' bodies joined the nationwide strike. The IMA also held a protest rally in Agartala.

In Assam, doctors across the state on Saturday joined the countrywide protest. Wearing black badges and displaying placards, doctors in most medical colleges in the state demanding exemplary punishment to the perpetrators of the Kolkata doctor killing and framing of central law to ensure safety and security of doctors and other medical professionals.

An agitating doctor at the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) said that justice for the victim is their main demand. Both the security and logistical arrangements as well as awareness campaigns are necessary in society so that such crimes do not occur, he said.

In Nagaland, the IMA, Nagaland state branch, Nagaland In-Service Doctors' Association (NIDA) and Indian Dental Association, Nagaland state unit joined in the nationwide withdrawal of services, except the emergency, for 24 hours starting from 6 a.m. on Saturday.

All these associations condemned the vandalism at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 14 and demanded protection for medical professionals across the country.

IMA Nagaland state branch secretary Aonungdok Tushi Ao said they stand with the IMA's call for the nationwide strike in solidarity with the agitating medics.

Emergency services were, however, operational in all the Nagaland hospitals.

In Arunachal Pradesh, as part of the country-wide protest, the doctors at the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences at Naharlagun staged a demonstration.

Displaying banners, placards and shouting slogans, the doctors demanded justice for the victim and her family members at the earliest. Doctors at the Itanagar-based Ramakrishna Mission Hospital also joined the protest.

The agitating doctors demanded 24x7 security for government and private doctors, nurses and medical professionals.

In Manipur, healthcare services were also affected in the state on Saturday as doctors went on 24-hour cease work as part of the IMA's nationwide strike against the rape and murder of a female doctor in a Kolkata hospital. OPDs were closed at all hospitals, including the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) in Imphal.

Emergency and in-patient services, however, remained unaffected in all hospitals.