On Saturday, medical professionals in India embarked on a 24-hour strike, affecting hospitals and medical centres countrywide, in response to the violent sexual assault and killing of a physician in Kolkata, located in the east of the nation. The millions of doctors participating were estimated to bring about a standstill in healthcare services throughout India, the largest country by populace globally. It was reported that teaching staff from medical colleges were drafted in to handle emergency scenarios.
In a statement made after a conference with medical association representatives, officials called upon the physicians to resume their duties in the public’s interest. The victim was a 31-year-old doctor-in-training, who was attacked and killed within her place of work, a medical college in Kolkata. This sparked demonstrations among the medical fraternity across the nation, being compared to the infamous 2012 event where a 23-year-old student was gang raped and killed on a moving bus in New Delhi.
This strike, initiated at 6am, culminated in the interruption of elective surgeries and outpatient appointments, as reported by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). An IMA representative in Telangana, Sanjeev Singh Yadav, told Reuters, “With all junior doctors striking, the implication is that 90% of physicians have withdrawn their services.”
There was a significant show of police force at the RG Kar Medical College, where the devastating crime occurred. Simultaneously, the hospital ground stood empty, as narrated by the ANI news agency. West Bengal’s Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, has supported the state-wide protests, advocating for an expedited inquiry and the harshest possible penalty for those found guilty. Throughout Kolkata on the same day, many private clinics and diagnostic centres remained non-operational.
In solidarity with the protest, a private children’s doctor, Dr Sandip Saha, stated to Reuters that he would only be available for emergency cases.
Medical facilities across various Indian cities including Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad in Gujarat, Guwahati in Assam, Chennai in Tamil Nadu, among others, had joined a significant strike action which was likely to be one of the most extensive disruptions of healthcare services in contemporary history.
People were seen lining up for medical services at hospitals, with some not being informed that the protest action would impede their ability to access healthcare services. An unnamed patient from SCB Medical College Hospital in the city of Cuttack, Odisha commented on national TV about the inconvenience caused due to the strike, forcing him to return home without receiving treatment.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating a high profile rape and murder case, has called upon several medical students from RG Kar College to understand the details of the reported crime, as told by a police source in Kolkata. The hospital’s principal was also interrogated by the agency.
Despite the introduction of stringent changes to the criminal justice system following a notorious gang-rape incident in Delhi, advocates argue that there has been minimal change. The perceived inadequacy of stricter laws to curb the growing violence against women has triggered protests from doctor and women’s groups.
R V Asokan, the president of IMA, emphasised the need for security enhancements for their majority female workforce during his conversation with Reuters. The association has also called for additional legal steps to protect healthcare providers from violence and prompt investigation into the serious crime in Kolkata. The punishment must be the severest and prompt, to set an example, stated senior criminal lawyer, Shobha Gupta, reflecting on her past experience representing a gang-raped Muslim woman during religious discord in Gujarat in 2002.
The government has announced in a declaration that a committee will be formed to propose steps for enhancing the safeguarding of healthcare staff. Furthermore, decisions regarding penalties should be quick to have a deterrent effect, especially when public outrage due to a criminal activity is still high.