Around 40,000 private and government doctors in Bihar will abstain from work from Saturday to Sunday morning to protest the brutal rape and murder of a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Calcutta earlier this month.

They will stay away from work as part of the call for nationwide “withdrawal of services” given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA). It is expected to bring the health services, barring the emergency, to a standstill in the state.

“Around 30,000 private doctors and 10,000 government doctors will withdraw their services in the state from 6am on Saturday to 6am on Sunday as part of a nationwide protest over the doctor’s rape and murder in Calcutta. We will try to ensure that emergency facilities are not affected. But our battle will be a protracted one and this is just the beginning,” said IMA Bihar action committee convenor Ajay Kumar.

All essential services and casualty departments will
be open during the protest,
but the routine OPDs (outpatient departments) will not function.

Former IMA national president Sahajanand Prasad Singh demanded that the culprits in the Calcutta rape and murder case should be hanged and the governments in the states and the Centre should take tough measures to ensure the safety of doctors, especially women.

“We are starting the protest by withdrawing non-emergency services. It could be expanded to emergency services if our demands, including a stricter law and punishment for those who attack doctors, are not met,” Singh said.

Of the 40,000 doctors in Bihar over 35 per cent are women, and they have called for safety and better work conditions in the hospitals and medical colleges.

“There is a dire need to improve the infrastructure for the safety of women doctors. Separate restrooms, changing rooms, places to rest, women security personnel, CCTV cameras are some of the steps that are immediately needed at all hospitals and medical colleges,” said Patna Obstetric and Gynaecological Society secretary Amita Sinha.

The doctors also demanded better implementation of
The Bihar Medical Service Institution and Person Protection Act, 2011, or its replacement that would provide stricter measures against those who assault medical practitioners.