Nationwide outrage has erupted in support of the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered in a State-run hospital in Kolkata last week.  On Friday, healthcare workers took out a massive protest march at India Gate and other parts of the city, seeking justice for the victim and demanding strictier laws for safety of health staff, including doctors, at workplace.

The evening march towards India Gate brought back memories of the Nirbhaya case when hundreds of thousands of Delhiites had hit the streets to seek harshest punishment for the perpetrators of the crime.

However, the police stopped the protesting doctors from making their way to the India Gate from Safdarjung hospital. Anyhow some managed to arrive at the site carrying placards: “Mahila apna haq mangti, nahi kisi se bheek mangti’  and ‘ek do teen char, band karo ye atyachar.”

Healthcare workers, including doctors, resident doctors and lab technicians, were present on India Gate as they marched on the Kartavya Path demanding justice for the victim. They termed the crime as “gut wrenching”

and pressed for the Central Protection Act for health  workers to be enforced. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association, the largest body of private medical practitioners across the country, has announced a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency services from 6 am on Saturday.

“Out-patient departments (OPD) will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted. The withdrawal is across all sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing services,” the IMA said.

It said doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession.

“It is for authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses. Both physical assaults and crimes are a result of indifference and insensitivity of the authorities concerned to the needs of doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers.”

A 50 year old Dr Nimrita travelled all the way from Faridabad and said, “We really need a overhaul to bring in security and safety measures for women in healthcare services. I have two children and now I am really questioning if I should ask them to not choose this field as their career.”

Other 28 year old resident doctor from Maulana Azad Medical College elaborated how they do not feel safe in the rooms assigned to them for resting during their night shifts. “We feel unsafe all the time. The rooms given to us for resting during our night shifts are far from secure. There are few guards who are unavailable to reach even if we call,” she said.

A lab technician Ajeet who is from Kolkata and works in Delhi said that his head hangs in shame when he listens to such brutal attacks on women by men. “We demand justice for her and every women that goes through such heinous crime. We also want that government brings Central Protection Act,” he said. Doctors and medical students of the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) also demanded for the act to be put in place.

Meanwhile, the Nirman Bhawan, located near Parliament in Lutyens’ Delhi, houses the Ministry of Health besides other departments also were witness to the protests that started in noon. The Maulana Azad Road was blocked as a large number of doctors protested there, with some wearing black bands on their sleeves. Hundreds were seen holding posters and Mansi, a female doctor from Lady Hardinge Medical College, held one that read, “Where can we go just to be safe?”

Later, six members of the doctors’ delegation went inside the Nirman Bhawan to meet government officials. The decision to hold the protest was made on the eve of Independence Day following a joint meeting of the representatives from multiple resident doctors’ associations (RDAs), including those from AIIMS, SIH, MAMC, RML, LHMC, UCMS and DDU.

The associations collectively agreed to implement a common unified action plan aimed at pushing for a central protection Act, which they believe is crucial for safeguarding the interests and lives of healthcare workers across the nation. The RDAs emphasised this protest is not just a demand for justice but a call for action to prevent further violence and ensure the safety of those on the frontlines of healthcare.

These protests were witnessed nationwide with marches and demonstrations held in other states including West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra among others.