The gruesome rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar hospital on August 9 has sparked widespread protests by doctors and medical students across the country. They are demanding steady justice for the victim, while also calling on the government to provide security measures for the healthcare professionals.
The 24-hour nationwide strike called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in protest against the rape and murder of the woman doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, began at 6 am this morning and will go on till 6 am Sunday.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women’s (NCW) two-member Inquiry Committee, after examining the circumstances around the incident, has submitted a preliminary findings report flagging “inadequate security, poor facilities, improper investigation and lack of protection”.
The IMA put forth five demands, including a thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of resident doctors and a central law to check violence against healthcare professionals at workplaces.
The IMA demanded a thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of resident doctors, including the 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces to take a rest. It has also demanded that hospitals be declared safe zones with the first step being mandatory security entitlements.
“The security protocols of all hospitals should be no less than (that of) an airport. Declaring the hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements is the first step. CCTVs, deployment of security personnel and the protocols can follow,” the IMA said in statement.
The doctors’ body also called for meticulous and professional investigation of the crime in a specific time-frame and rendering of justice besides identifying those involved in the vandalism of the hospital premises and awarding exemplary punishment. It also sought an appropriate and dignified compensation to the bereaved family commensurate with the cruelty inflicted.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led a protest march to counter efforts by the BJP, CPM and others to corner her politically over the RG Kar atrocity. Mamata, who is also the state’s home and health minister, absolved her administration of the charge of shoddy investigation before the CBI takeover, saying the probe had been spot-on.