Delhi docs seek ‘justice for Abhaya’, safety measures for healthcare workers

Doctors of government hospitals on Thursday, 17 October, demanded "justice for Abhaya", urging action in the ongoing fight for justice for a female doctor who was raped and murdered at a Kolkata hospital.

The Delhi RDA Action Committee, an umbrella body of doctors from AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, GTB Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College, and Lady Hardinge Medical College, held a press conference to express solidarity with their protesting fellow doctors in the West Bengal capital.

Apart from demands for "justice for Abhaya", the committee also emphasises the need for urgent measures to ensure safety of healthcare workers at hospitals across the country.

The joint press conference took place this evening at the Dhanvantri Hostel of ABVIMS and Dr RML Hospital, where representatives from various Resident Doctors' Associations (RDAs) voiced their concerns over the increasing insensitivity of authorities towards the safety and security of healthcare professionals.

GTB Hospital RDA president Rajat Sharma said, "We are standing with our fellow workers. We want justice as soon as possible. It has been too long, and we are not seeing any concrete decisions or actions for healthcare workers' safety."

He criticised the Centre for failing to fulfil promises regarding security measures, saying the assaults on medical personnel have increased recently, with no actions taken by authorities to address the issue.

"We are scared going to work because we don't know when a patient or their attendant might attack us, and there is no security for us," Rajat added.

Another doctor at the press meet accused officials of merely playing with words without trying to take meaningful action. "We do not need their words; we need tangible developments," he said.

On Wednesday, Delhi resident doctors held a protest outside the Banga Bhawan, holding posters and banners to demand swift justice for the murdered trainee doctor.

The junior doctors of Kolkata's R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital have been protesting against the rape and murder of a colleague on 9 August. The incident took place when the trainee doctor had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar room during a break.

The junior doctors went on "cease work" following the incident. They ended their stir after 42 days on 21 September following assurances from the state government to look into their demands.

However, they began a hunger strike at the Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala in the heart of Kolkata on 5 October, claiming that the government did not fulfil their demands.