HYDERABAD: The protests over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old second-year PG resident doctor in RG Kar College in Kolkata has taken a major turn in the state with government and private medical hospitals deciding to suspend non-emergency services on Saturday in response to a call given by the Indian Medical Association on Friday.
This is the first time since the incident in Kolkata that the private hospital doctors are joining the ongoing protests. Government hospital doctors have been boycotting OP services for the past couple of days.
Private hospitals Apollo, AIG, Care, KIMS, Yashoda and the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital and Research Institute will suspend OP services and elective surgeries from 6 am on Saturday to 6 am on Sunday.
Telangana Nurses Association and Telangana Hospitals & Nursing Homes Association also decided to boycott services on Saturday.
On Friday, doctors continued to protests, taking out rallies in campuses of all the government hospitals and medical colleges in the state including Osmania General Hospital, Osmania Medical College and Gandhi Hospital in the city as well as AIIMSc, Bibinagar, government medical colleges in Mahabubabad, Nirmal, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Mancherial, Siddipet, Adilabad, Rajanna Sircilla, Asifabad, Ramagundam, Jangaon, Karimnagar, Khammam and KMC Warangal.
Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) from Osmania Medical College and Gandhi Hospital took out a rally in which hundreds of doctors and medical staff participated, demanding justice for the victim. More than 3,000 doctors took to the streets in the city.
Around 1,000 doctors of ESI Medical College Hospital conducted a rasta roko and rally in Sanath Nagar. Medical fraternity from NIMS also took to roads, chanting slogans demanding justice for the victim.
Similar reports of protests and rallies flowed across Telangana.
Various doctors bodies and associations, including T-JUDA, Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGGDA), Doctors Association for Relief & Education have also extended their support to the protests.
Dr Narendra Kumar, principal, Osmania Medical College, told TNIE, “The Osmania Medical College and its 10 affiliated hospitals stand in solidarity with the bereaved family of the victim. We also support the nationwide protest by the Indian Medical Association tomorrow”.
The major demands by the doctors include justice for the victim and her family, stringent action against the accused and those from the administration responsible for the rape and murder of the doctor, implementation of the Central Protection Act with immediate effect to prevent violence against healthcare professionals.
