Late on Monday night, clashes broke out between doctors and relatives of a patient at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata after the said patient died. According to the family members, the patient died owing to alleged medical negligence. Amidst all this, an intern was critically injured. The incident led to an outrage on social media and otherwise, with doctors and medical students in various hospitals around West Bengal protesting against the assault.
Healthcare services came to a stand still after junior doctors in almost all the state-run institutions stopped working following the attack on the intern.
The agitation of doctors at NRS then spread to the other hospitals around the country, with countless medical personnel joining hands in solidarity.
On Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued a warning for the junior doctors who were calling for a strike and told them to get back to work. She also said that policemen often died in the line of duty but their colleagues had never revolted.
AIIMS Delhi has also decided to join hands with the protesters in Kolkata with Delhi Medical Association (DMA) declaring a black day on Thursday. In fact, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) also urged doctors around the country to protest and wear black badges on Friday as a sign of protest.
According to the ANI, doctors at AIIMS have been wearing helmets while treating patients. They have also been donning bandages on their foreheads as a symbol of the alleged attack on the intern which reportedly led to a head injury.
The whole idea behind the protest is to demand a safe workplace, which these doctors claim they have been denied.
Posts like these have gone viral on social media. Although Mamata Banerjee issued an ultimatum of four hours, the doctors have still refused to back off or withdraw their protests.