Amid nationwide uproar over the gruesome rape-murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata Hospital, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a nationwide strike and withdrawal of non-emergency medical services for 24 hours beginning Saturday, NDTV reports.
IMA has demanded an overhaul of the working and living conditions of resident doctors, including 36-hour shifts and safe places to rest. It sought a central law to prevent violence against medical professionals at workplaces.
During the strike, which began at 6:00 am Saturday and will go on till Sunday, all emergency services will be functional. However, routine OPD services and elective surgeries will not be conducted.
In its statement, the IMA has put forth a list of demands to ensure that security protocols of hospitals "be no less than (that of) an airport". Hospitals should be declared as safe zones with CCTVs and higher deployment of security personnel, it said.
The doctors' body also called for a thorough, swift investigation of the "barbaric" crime and asked for "appropriate and dignified" compensation to the victim's family.
Key medical student organisations like The All India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) and Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) have joined the nationwide strike.
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