IMA strike: Resident doctors in Delhi to withdraw all kind of services
07:44AM Thu 1 Aug, 2019
Healthcare services at government hospitals, including All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital (RML) in Delhi, are likely to be severely hit with resident doctors deciding to withdraw all kind of services, including that of emergency department, on August 1 to protest the introduction of the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
Amid widespread protests, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in a late night tweet said he would table the NMC Bill for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha on August 1. He also assured the country that the Bill, if passed, would bring major changes in the medical education sector.
The Bill, which seeks to replace the graft-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI), had got the nod of the Lok Sabha on July 29.
“Resident doctors will refrain from working in OPDs, emergency departments and ICUs as a mark of protest on Thursday and the strike will continue for an indefinite period if the Bill is tabled and passed in the Rajya Sabha,” Dr Sumedh Sandanshiv, President, Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), said, alleging that the Bill was “anti-poor, anti-student and undemocratic.”