India: Striking doctors defy government over rape, murder

Some 6,000 Indian doctors are pushing ahead with the strike and protests over a month after a gruesome rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.

The woman fell asleep in a seminar room after a 36-hour shift in the government-run RG Kar medical college and hospital. Her severely battered body was discovered by colleagues the next morning.

The anger over the rape and murder has since escalated into nationwide outrage and stirred widespread protests and calls to fight violence against women in India.

Who will be the first to blink?

The striking doctors have decided to ignore the Supreme Court decision ordering them to return to work this week. They have also rejected the offer of talks by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the head of the state government of West Bengal, where Kolkata is located.

Camping outside the Health Ministry, the protesters call for the removal of Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal and several top state health department officials. They have also demanded elections be held for all decision-making committees within medical colleges.

"The state government has not taken any genuine steps regarding the main demands of the movement. No action has been taken regarding police negligence or health corruption," Debashish Halder of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front (WBJDF) told DW.

"We want the case to be fast tracked and are hopeful that the government will act," said Halder.

Parents of the rape and murder victim have also visited the protest site.

No deal on live broadcast for talks

The doctors are enraged by what they see as procedural lapses and negligence following the death of the trainee doctor. Hospital officials reportedly first told the victim's parents she died due to an illness, then that she took her own life, and only later acknowledged there was violence.

State government officials and police officers who first began investigating the case have been accused of mishandling the investigation and not securing the crime scene.

Amid the continuing deadlock between the government and health workers, the striking doctors have now requested a delegation of 30 representatives to meet Banerjee and insisted on a live broadcast of the meeting for transparency.

The government has rejected the agitators' demand to broadcast the talks live.

"It is clear to us now that the cycle of corruption in the state's health system and the threat of politics in colleges cannot be avoided by the senior officials of the health department. This has continually disrupted patient services," Arif Ahmed Laskar, a doctor at RG Kar hospital, told DW.

Laskar referred to a complaint about alleged financial irregularities at the hospital filed by Akhtar Ali, the former deputy superintendent to the state vigilance commission and the anti-corruption bureau, who was in office last year.

"Instead of acting on his complaints, it led to his own transfer from the institution," added Laskar.

What do doctors want?

India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has taken over the case by re-examining forensic material on theday of the crime and questioning the main accused, Sanjay R. earlier this month. The agency also arrested Sandip Ghosh, RG Kar's principal, and three others for alleged financial irregularities and corruption at the hospital.

The West Bengal government, on its part, has introduced a slew of safety measures for women at workplaces, particularly in state-run hospitals working night shifts following the protests that rocked the state.

However, doctors want to see fundamental changes in the health system and a genuine appreciation of the hardships they face.

"After such a huge incident which has captured the country's imagination and led to hundreds of protest rallies, the health system is still not people-centric despite our movement for the victim's justice," Urmimala Bhattacharjee, a senior resident doctor, told DW.

"What the government has assured us does not inspire confidence. We need a sound health policy and true intent to make the system operate well," she added.

Measures introduced for women safety

New measures for women's safety include creating CCTV-monitored safe zones, developing an emergency mobile app, and increasing night police patrols. Furthermore, women will be encouraged to form two-member teams during night shifts, with security staff pushed to maintain a more equal gender ratio.

Places who have women work night shifts will be assisted by the flagship program "Rattirer Sathi" (Helpers of the Night), which is comprised of volunteers.

The Supreme Court has also established a 10-member National Task Force to develop a protocol for safeguarding doctors and health care workers.

Doctors' strike costs lives, say West Bengal officials

According to West Bengal Health Secretary N S Nigam, the strike has caused disruptions in health care services, which resulted in the deaths of 23 individuals. He said approximately 700,000 were unable to receive treatment in outpatient departments and 70,000 patients denied care in inpatient facilities of state-run hospitals.

However, the WBJDF insists that patient services are operational in every medical college in the state, with senior doctors providing care. Additionally, the body claimed to have created a new telemedicine service, which was launched on August 31 to help the patients.

"There are 245 government hospitals in the state, of which only 26 are medical colleges. The number of junior doctors is less than 7,500," said the WBJDF in a statement.

"West Bengal has nearly 93,000 registered doctors. Given that only a few medical colleges have junior doctors on strike, how can the entire health care system be said to be collapsing?" it asked.

'We want justice and we will take it'

While the recent rape and murder captured headlines in India and abroad, it is only one of the many incidents involving attacks on doctors and nurses in recent years. These attacks have prompted many complaints from doctors about their safety and working conditions.

For now, the stalemate continues between the agitating doctors, for whom public support grows, and the state government, which remains firm.

"The state government must develop a spine. There is no politics behind our stir. We want justice and we will take it," Shreya Shaw, a resident doctor at R G Kar hospital, told DW.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic