Jharkhand doctors boycott work in protest against assault on doctors

Ranchi: Taking cognizance of several incidences of violence against doctors in the last few days, the Jharkhand branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has decided to boycott outpatient department (OPD) works for 24 hours on Wednesday morning.

The IMA is demanding that the state government should implement the Medical Protection Act and give exemption to the 50-bed hospitals and clinics from the Clinical Establishment Act. Though emergency services were not interrupted, doctors withheld OPD services for 24 hours.

The demands of the doctors included the implementation of the Medical Protection Act in Jharkhand, removing the biometrics-based attendance-taking system, and taking proper steps to ensure the safety of the doctors. Dr Vikas Kumar of the neurosurgery department at RIMS and IMA member told Medical Dialogues, “We have seen some violent attacks on medical professionals in the past few days. Senior orthopedist surgeon Dr Anchal Kumar has been brutally attacked at his own house and he sustained an injury in his frontal lobe. Hazaribag Medical College's HoD of the Pediatrics Department went to meet the local DDC but had to face bad behaviour. Authorities made him stand for a long time but when he wanted to sit down after being exhausted, security guards misbehaved with him and pushed him out of the room."

"These two are not the only two incidents; Garhwa's Civil Surgeon was also called by the authorities only to be humiliated by the party workers. Such incidents are not to be tolerated by us. Medical Protection Act has already been implemented in all the states, hence, it needs to be implemented in Jharkhand also. We have some other demands also. There is no fixed timing of our duties. Hence, sometimes we have to stay overtime, and following the biometrics is not always possible. Previously the controlling officer used to give attendance on the basis of physical presence. However, now salary is given on the basis of biometric attendance. It should be made more lenient," he added.

The doctors have staged a protest and withdrawn OPD service till Thursday morning. The doctors have been spreading information regarding the protest for the past several days so that the citizens are prepared for it.