Chandigarh: Elective services remained suspended today due to protest by resident doctors at PGI, GMCH, Sector 32 and GMCH, Sector 16. As only follow-up cases were registered in the morning, 2,248 patients were examined at the OPD of PGI. On normal days, the health institution has 10,000 registrations including follow-ups and new cases. The resident doctors have been on strike since Monday. “We came to Chandigarh on Friday. Since the residents are on strike, my mother has not been examined. I buy medicine for her from the chemist shop and that is what gives her relief from ear pain. We cannot get treatment in a private hospital. We are waiting for the protest to end,” said Paramjit Singh, who came from Hoshiarpur.
On the occasion of Rakhi, the resident doctors tied rakhis to security personnel, policemen, staff and fellow doctors in the morning. “Because of their presence we work in a safe manner. Many of us are from far-flung areas and our families are not here. For us these policemen and guards are like our brothers who protect us,” said a young resident doctor from Himachal. Around 6 pm, PGI residents and various organisations pledged to raise awareness about women’s safety and educate children about it. Later in the day, protesting doctors took out a “Light for Right” march from the PGI campus to Sector 17 Plaza.
Around 10:30 am, the residents marched towards Karen Block on the campus and submitted a memorandum to Director Dr Vivek Lal. Carrying banners and posters, they raised slogans demanding justice for the victim of the Kolkata incident. “Dying hands must not bleed,” read one banner. A female resident doctor was allegedly raped and murdered at Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College. The doctors have also demanded a ‘Central Security Act’ which will provide stringent punishment for those indulging in violence against medical staff.
