OPD On Road As Delhi Doctors Continue Strike Over Kolkata Horror: 10 Points

1. The resident doctors of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi said that their strike would continue. The AIIMS RDA also said it will provide free elective OPD services of around 36 specialties to patients outside Nirman Bhawan from 11 am.

2. They have been on an indefinite strike since August 12, suspending all elective and non-essential services including OPDs and wards to protest the rape-murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata. 

3. The protesting doctors have been demanding justice for the victim and a security act for medical personnel.

4. The AIIMS RDA also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention for the enactment of a central law via an ordinance to protect healthcare workers and institutions across the nation.

5. They also drew PM Modi’s attention to the subsequent vandalism at the state-run Kolkata hospital and the “worrying rise in violence against doctors, healthcare workers, and medical institutions” across the country.

6. A group of Padma Awardee doctors has urgently appealed to President Droupaid Murmu for immediate intervention following the Kolkata incident. The doctors highlighted the rise in violence against healthcare professionals, particularly against women.

7. The Union health ministry had last week assured the protesting doctors of all possible efforts to ensure their safety. The Ministry on August 17 said it will form a committee to suggest measures for ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals.

8. The Supreme Court, meanwhile, has taken up the rape-murder case and a three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud will hear the matter on Tuesday.

9. The case is already being heard by the Calcutta High Court, which has ordered that the probe be transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI, overriding Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s August 18 ultimatum to the state police.

10. The body of the postgraduate trainee doctor was found in the seminar hall of the state-run hospital in Kolkata on August 9, triggering nationwide protests. A civic volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime the next day.

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