Cardiac surgeons, paediatricians, nurses, support IMA call for nationwide 24-hour withdrawal of services today

“As per their demands, we have also held a meeting of the security council and assured students of drawing up a list of the ‘secluded’ spots on the premises where CCTVs need to be installed. I will also conduct a round of the campus with the MARD team to draw up a final list,” he said.

On Friday, nearly 250 medical interns joined nearly 400 resident doctors in the ongoing stir. Dr Shivaji Munde, president, BJMC unit of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, said another rally will be taken out by doctors’ associations on Saturday. Students from various medical colleges in Pimpri Chinchwad, Sinhagad College, Y C M hospital, Dr D Y Patil Medical College and others along with IMA doctors will participate in the protest rally.

Meanwhile, the Indian Association of Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgeons (IACTS) has decided to stop elective services on Saturday in support of IMA’s call for a nationwide 24-hour withdrawal of services by doctors.

“We are supporting the IMA’s call for a nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors as a mark of protest against the brutal crime in R G Kar Medical College Kolkata and the hooliganism unleashed on the protesting students on the eve of Independence Day,” Pune-based Dr Manoj Durairaj, president of IACTS, told The Indian Express, adding that they have issued a letter to all their members across the country.

“We anticipate that approximately 30-50 surgeries posted for Saturday in Pune will be affected. However, emergency and medical emergency services will be attended to,” he added.

IMA has declared a 24-hour withdrawal of services from 6 am on Saturday. “The withdrawal is across all the sectors wherever modern medicine doctors are providing service,” the IMA said in a statement. “Routine OPDs will not function and elective surgeries will not be conducted,” Dr R V Asokan, IMA national president, said. Close to 3,000 IACTS members are supporting the IMA’s decision.

The Indian Academy of Paediatrics has also urged its members to support IMA’s decision by suspending non-emergency services. Dr G V Basavaraja, national president, IAP, said that emergency services will remain fully functional. “We have urged the authorities and investigative agencies to identify and award all the culprits with swift punishment,” Dr Basavaraja told The Indian Express.

In a statement issued on Friday, Dr S Natarajan, president of the tele-ophthalmology society of India, said an exemption should be made to ensure that women doctors possess a stun gun. “We have suggested that doctors’ association should pressure the government to relax the rule so that women doctors can get a licence to possess a stun gun–so that they use it with responsibility,” he said. Under the Indian Arms Act 1956, stun guns and tasers are illegal to own. According to the statement issued by Dr Natarajan, they have asked for an exemption for women doctors.

Radiologists with the Indian Radiological and Imaging Association also said they would join the nationwide stir on Saturday apart from the nurses association that has joined the stir.