Doctors from Hyderabad’s Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences staging a protest on Wednesday seeking justice for the woman doctor who was raped and murdered at Kolkata’s R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital recently.
| Photo Credit: G. RAMAKRISHNA
Protest by junior doctors in the State, in response to the recent rape and murder of a woman medical student at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, continued for an eighth day on Wednesday. Representatives from the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) met Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy and submitted to him a formal representation that called for increased security at government hospitals.
The doctors urged the Minister to ensure the enforcement of Government Order MS 103, which allows for the deployment of the Special Protection Force (SPF) at all government general and teaching hospitals in Telangana. They also pressed for the implementation of the Central Protection Act (CPA) for doctors, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2022 but is yet to be enacted.
Additionally, the representation highlighted the need for designated duty rooms and restrooms for women doctors at all government health facilities. The doctors requested the installation of CCTV cameras throughout hospital premises, with a centralised control room for monitoring. They said a security officer should be stationed in this control room to monitor potential crowd gatherings and alert the police outpost and nearest security personnel as needed.
Earlier in the day, a massive protest took place at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) in Hyderabad, where doctors from Osmania Medical College and Gandhi Medical College joined in solidarity. The boycott of outpatient (OP) and elective surgery services continued.
There was also a protest organised by All India Democratic Students Organisation, All India Democratic Youth Organisation and All India Mahila Samskrithika Sangham. R. Gangadhar, all India leader of AIDSO, termed the government’s negligence as the primary factor contributing to the rise in crime currently. He said: “We often witness instances where governments, administrations and criminals collude to conceal corrupt activities. In the R.G. Kar case, authorities initially claimed that the victim had died by suicide, then the crime scene was completely tampered with, leaving no evidence behind. It appears these actions were part of a calculated plan.”
