Other doctor bodies continue strike – Demand central law to curb violence against doctors
New Delhi: The Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) on Tuesday said it was calling off its strike over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata as the Union health minister has accepted their demands after meeting the health minister J P Nadda. Many other organisations, including the resident doctors’ association of the premier All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, have, however, said that the strike will go on.
In a post on X, the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA) said the decision to call off the strike was taken after a meeting with Union Health Minister JP Nadda and that their demands had been met, including one seeking an assurance that the Central Healthcare Protection Act would be passed to curb attacks on medical personnel. In a statement, FORDA said, “as requested”, it will be part of a committee on the Central Healthcare Protection Act, work on which will start within 15 days. It said it had decided to call off the strike on Wednesday morning in the interest of patient welfare.
On the other hand other doctor association differed from the decision of FORDA and the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) said most of the resident doctors’ associations (RDAs) are with it and would continue the strike along with FAIMA and AIIMS Delhi. It said a national RDA meeting was attended by over 90 representatives. In a post on X, the RDA of AIIMS said the strike would continue until they got a “complete assurance” about the safety of doctors through strict laws like the Central Healthcare Protection Act.
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“The AIIMS RDA will continue their indefinite strike, including the suspension of academic activities, elective OPDs, ward services, and OT services. However, emergency services, ICUs and emergency OT will remain operational,” the association posted on its handle. “AIIMS RDA and other RDAs will continue the strike till we get complete assurance on safety and security of doctors nationwide through strict laws that is CPA (central protection act),” it added. The Resident Doctors of Maharashtra (MARD) and Junior Doctors’ Associations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh also said they would not call off the strike as did associations in AIIMS in Patna, Bhubaneswar, Rishikesh and Mangalagiri, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru, PGI Chandigarh, JIPMER, SGPGI Lucknow, IMS BHU, ESIC Joka and KGMU Lucknow. The Resident Doctors’ Association of Safdarjung Hospital also said it would continue the strike. In a statement, it said that is no longer associated with FORDA and would hold a meeting at 9 am to discuss the plan of action.