LUCKNOW: Responding to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) call for protest in a show of solidarity with their West Bengal counterparts spearheading a stir against attack on them, the government doctors in Uttar Pradesh Friday sported black bands while attending patients in hospitals.
Notably, the medicos sported black armbands, helmets and many of them were seen in bandages on their head while attending the patients in Lucknow and elsewhere in the state.
According to Dr Amit Singh, general secretary of Provincial Medical Services Association UP, doctors discharged their duties while sporting black armbands at various hospitals in the state. In the afternoon, a delegation of the doctors submitted a memorandum against the West Bengal government’s attitude towards
medical fraternity to the DM. The memorandum was addressed to the Prime Minister.
In the memorandum, "We demanded security for doctors so that they do not feel scared," said Dr Singh. He added that more than 18,700 doctors associated with the Provincial Medical Services Association UP took part in the protest.
“We are also human beings. We put in our best efforts but sometimes even we fail to save a life,” said Dr Anil Gangwar, national convenor, Resident Doctors Association at Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences. In Kanpur, resident doctors at Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College wore helmets while attending their patients.
Similarly, the resident doctors at the Institute of Medical Sciences-Banaras Hindu University (IMS-BHU) went on a day-long strike to support West Bengal protesting medicos. Reports of similar protest came in from SRN Hospital in Prayagraj. Here junior doctors boycotted work causing inconvenience to patients.
Members of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) took out a protest march. “Sometimes we also fail in saving a life. We are not god... Attendants must appreciate our genuine efforts,” said Dr P K Gupta, member, IMA Lucknow.
Residents in King George’s Medical University also gathered outside the administrative building to seek justice for their fellow doctors in West Bengal.