Indian doctors, who wore helmets and bandaids to work, are now on a day-long strike to protest violent attack in West Bengal

• Doctors across the country are on a long-day strike to protest the violence against two doctors in West Bengal, earlier this week.
• Several hospitals and doctors association including the (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) AIIMS in New Delhi, Raipur, Patna and Punjab have shut down services, owing to the protest.
  

Doctors across the country are on a long-day strike to protest the violence against two doctors in West Bengal, earlier this week. Some of them have bandaged their heads to symbolically represent the dangers they are subjected to.

The doctors are protesting the harassment they face when a patient dies during treatment. The protest which started on June 4 crippled the healthcare system in West Bengal, and has now spread to other cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and others.

The Clash

On June 3, the relatives of a patient admitted at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, clashed with the doctors after the patient died. During the clashes, an MBBS intern was badly injured.

The incident provoked an outrage on social media and across the West Bengal on June 11 where doctors protested against the assault.

Nation-wide protest

Several hospitals and doctors association including the (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) AIIMS in New Delhi, Raipur, Patna and Punjab have shut down services, owing to the protest.

Government hospitals in Kerala and Hyderabad also staged a protest through ‘cease work’ demonstration. Over 4,500 Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) also joined the mass protest by not attending the patients in nearly 26 government hospitals.

Similar protests were also being held in Pune, Aurangabad and Nagpur by MARD members who are demanding protection for their counterparts in West Bengal.

Senior and junior resident doctors of several government hospitals in the nation’s capital on June 14 also went on the one-day token strike.


Resident doctors at the AIIMS and Safdarjung hospitals bandages their heads in a symbolic protest and suspended all non-emergency services. Only follow-up patients with a prior appointment were being registered at the outpatient departments (OPDs).

(With IANS)