Doctors in Kolkata city announced Indian (Northeast) Friday, only essential services will resume at medical facilities, but they will continue the strike they have been carrying out since the rape and murder of a colleague at a city hospital more than a month ago.
The West Bengal Young Doctors’ Front, which represents about 7,000 doctors in the state, said in a statement on Thursday that they would resume their core duties from Saturday.
Since the discovery of the body of the 31-year-old doctor in the Kolkata hospital where she worked, her fellow trainees have been on strike, demanding more safety measures for women in the workplace and justice, prompting India’s Supreme Court to set up a task force on hospital safety.
“They will resume their work in hospitals, but will not be involved in consultations or non-urgent operations,” said Aniket Mahato, a representative of these trainees.
He warned that “the protest movement is not over,” stressing that “we will gradually resume due to floods in many places in our state.. We must help the victims.” He added, “If our demands are not met, we will resume the strike.”
The capital of West Bengal state has witnessed almost daily demonstrations for a month against the scourge of sexual violence endemic in India.
Doctors are calling for improved security measures, including additional CCTV coverage, female security personnel, adequate lighting, toilets and rest areas.
A suspect has been arrested on charges of raping and killing the doctor, but the attitude of local authorities and the course of the investigation have been heavily criticised, and the police chief was dismissed this week.
This crime revived the bitter memory of the crime committed against a young woman on a bus in New Delhi 2012.
