City resident doctors protest against inadequate security
The resident doctors of two civic-run hosptials in the city staged protests on Monday to protest against the government’s inaction and also to extend their support to the resident doctors of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Nagpur, who went on strike on October 8 . The residents said that it was a silent protest against the government as they had failed to fulfill their demands of deploying security guards in all hospitals.
The resident doctors of Sir Jamshedji Jeejeebhoy Hospital and BYL Nair hospitals organised a silent protest with a candle-light march and sporting black ribbons on their arms.
“We are silently protesting and it is not going to affect patients as we are treating them simultaneously. All the resident doctors of the city are supporting this protest as we face security threats which creates a tremendous amount of stress,” said Dr. Vinita Singh, President of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors.
She wondered where was the security if an outsider’s corpse could be dropped off in the compound of the Resident Hostel at GMC in Nagpur. “So where are the security for doctors? How can we work in such conditions? So we have a single demand of security. We want the government to provide us security as promised by them in March. For the past many days, MARD has been pushing for strict implementation of state’s GR making it mandatory to post security guards at all ICUs and wards,” Dr. Singh added.
In March, the health minister provided security force at hospitals all over Maharashtra. They deployed MSF people all over the state, more in Mumbai and less in peripheral and government hospitals.
“MSF people did strike in the month of September. They did not join back. And in between this some unfortunate incidents happened in GMC Nagpur and YCM, Pimpri Chinchwad, where resident doctors were manhandled by patient’s relatives,” added Dr. Singh
Pointing out that security had become a major concern. “We require 180 guards to provide proper security at the huge campus, the ICUs and wards. Now, with no armed guards, the doctors are at increased risk of being attacked by patients’ kin or other anti-social elements,” said a resident doctor.