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Chandigarh doctors protest against Kolkata rape-murder, demand safety in hospitals
Outpatient department services remained non-functional and elective surgeries were also not conducted but emergency services were not affected at hospitals, including Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
Doctors held protests in Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday against the rape and murder of a woman doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata and demanded safety for health-care professionals at workplaces.
Outpatient department services remained non-functional and elective surgeries were also not conducted but emergency services were not affected, the protesting doctors said.
The Indian Medical Association has given a nationwide call for the withdrawal of non-emergency services for 24 hours from 6am on Saturday to protest against the rape and murder at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and the subsequent vandalism at the facility.
Meanwhile, the protest of resident doctors at the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh entered its sixth day on Saturday. OPD services for both old and new patients remained closed but emergency and critical care services continued.
The Faculty Association of PGIMER, Chandigarh, is also supporting the strike call given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
OPD services at Government Multi Specialty Hospital, Sector 16, and Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh, also remained curtailed.
At GMCH-32, the faculty welfare body went on a pen-down strike in the OPD from 9am to 11am in solidarity.
Meanwhile, patients continued to suffer. Many coming from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana besides Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir had to return without seeing their doctors as they were not aware about the strike.
The OPDs at Fortis Hospital, Phase 8, and Max Hospital, Phase 6, in Mohali also remained suspended on Saturday.
Medical professionals held sit-ins at many places in Patiala, Amritsar and Ludhiana, demanding justice for the victim and safety for doctors, IMA Punjab unit adviser Navjot Dahiya said.
