Post Kolkata incident, Punjab doctors protest for safer working environment

PATIALA: Doctors observed a Black Day and held a protest march in Patiala on Friday following the brutal attack on a medical intern at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata

Updated At : 10:40 PM Jun 14, 2019 IST

Doctors observed a ‘Black Day’ and held a protest march in Patiala on Friday

Karam Prakash
Tribune News Service
Patiala, June 14

Doctors observed a ‘Black Day’ and held a protest march in Patiala on Friday following the brutal attack on a medical intern at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata.

Over 200 MBBS students—along with junior and senior residents of the government Rajindra Hospital—wore black ribbons around their arms and bandages on their heads as a mark of protest. The doctors want a safer work environment.

The doctors said that even though incidents of assault on medical professionals were on the rise, nothing concrete had been done to protect them. Demanding more security at government hospitals, doctors said a safe and secure work environment was a basic requirement for caregivers.

Condemning the attack on the doctor in Kolkata, Dr DS Bhullar, general secretary, Punjab State Dental and Medical Teacher Association, said: “The practitioners do not have a secure environment and therefore, assaults on them are increasing every day. If it continues like this, medical aspirants may start losing their interest in this noble profession. “

Sauhard Arora, a third-year MBBS student, said: “People should understand that we (doctors) always do our best to save the patients, but we are not God. The recent attack on a doctor in Kolkata — by over 200 people —has shocked the medical fraternity. There is a sense of fear among the doctors after this horrific incident”.

At the protest, the doctors demanded the Punjab Government deploy more police personnel at the emergency wards of the government hospitals to avoid untoward incidents.

“During the night, there are only one or two guards in the emergency ward. It is also important to note that whenever such incidents take place, it is the junior doctors who are at the receiving end,” said Dr VP Singh.

‘PM must intervene’

In a memorandum submitted to the Patiala Civil Surgeon, the doctors have asked for the intervention of Prime Minister Modi.

The doctors also seek stricter laws with exemplary punishment for the perpetrators.

Nation-wide protests

Junior doctors in Kolkata have been agitating since Tuesday demanding security for themselves in government hospitals, after two of their colleagues were attacked and seriously injured allegedly by relatives of a patient who died at the NRS Medical College and Hospital.

The incident has triggered nation-wide protests by doctors. On Thursday, Doctors in AIIMS expressed solidarity with their colleagues in Kolkata by wearing helmets to work. Similar protests have been reported from Bhopal and Secunderabad as well.