Centre Enhances Hospital Security By 25% Amid Kolkata Murder Protest

The nationwide protests by junior doctors over the alleged rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata show no signs of abating, even as the Union health ministry approves a 25% increase in security deployment at central hospitals. Healthcare services remain severely disrupted, with senior doctors stepping in to handle the heavy rush at out-patient departments across West Bengal.

In Kolkata, a group of senior physicians marched to the city police headquarters in response to notices served to two of their colleagues regarding their public comments on the postgraduate trainee’s murder. Junior doctors in the state continue their cease-work protest, with an agitating doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, where the incident occurred, passionately stating, “This protest is for seeking justice for a female doctor who faced brutality while treating patients for 36 hours at a stretch. It is the 11th day that her body was discovered, but where is the justice? We will continue this stir until we get justice for our sister.”

The protests have spread to other parts of the country as well. In Delhi, medics are offering elective outpatient services on the road outside Nirman Bhawan, calling it a symbolic protest, as they continue their strike for the eighth consecutive day. A doctor treating patients on the road remarked, “At the hospital, there is no safety or protection. At least here, we have police around us, so we can treat patients here. We have no option but to fight for ourselves, as nobody is doing anything besides offering us sympathy and empty assurances.”

The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has announced that they will continue their strike, as a meeting with the central government failed to reach an agreement. In Uttar Pradesh, junior doctors observed ‘Kala Raksha Bandhan’ on Raksha Bandhan, while elective services remained disrupted for the eighth consecutive day. Resident doctors in Mumbai held a silent march to protest attacks on medical professionals, with one doctor stating, “The silent march was to protest the incidents in Kolkata and here. We are seeking safety for doctors at their workplaces.”

Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has allowed a 25% enhancement in security deployment at all Union government hospitals, with the deployment of marshals approved based on individual demands by government hospitals after they conduct their security assessments. However, official sources suggest that bringing a central law based on the RG Kar hospital case “will not make any huge difference” as the alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor was not a case of patient-doctor violence, and crimes and rapes are already covered under existing laws.

The ruling TMC in West Bengal has demanded that the CBI expedite its probe into the case, while the BJP has attacked the state government, calling Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee “shameless” and alleging that crucial evidence was destroyed at her behest to save the culprits. The BJP has also slammed leaders of the opposition INDIA bloc, including the Congress’ Rahul Gandhi, for “generalising” the trainee doctor’s rape and murder by expressing concern over such cases reported in different parts of the country, including those in BJP-ruled states.