KOLKATA: A nationwide withdrawal of services has been announced by doctors of modern medicine starting from 6 am on Saturday, August 17 to 6 am Sunday, August 18, per the official statement released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Thursday. Notably, the strike has been called by IMA amid the ongoing protest in Kolkata over the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Medical College. In its official statement, IMA stated that routine OPDs and elective surgeries will not take place during those 24 hours; however, other essential services will be maintained. “All essential services will be maintained. Casualties will be manned. Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service. IMA requires the sympathy of the nation with the just cause of its doctors,” the release stated. The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) also announced a protest against the incident at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on August 16. “To voice our protest against these acts, we (BMC MARD, IMA, IMA JDN, ASMI) are organising a peaceful protest at Azad Maidan, Mumbai, on 16th August 2024 at 1 pm. We urge our fellow medical colleagues, doctors, medical students, resident doctors, senior doctors and other associations to join us in this protest against the injustice,” MARD stated in a press release. Meanwhile, people from the Bengali film and television industry have also joined hands with protesting doctors at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. On August 9, a postgraduate trainee doctor was allegedly raped and murdered on duty at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, which led to nationwide strikes and protests by the medical fraternity. The incident triggered massive protests. On Wednesday, the protest ground and the hospital campus at RG Kar were vandalised by a mob, forcing the security personnel to disperse the crowd.
