Kolkata, June 15: The crisis in the healthcare services are set to deepen further as the Resident Doctors Association, AIIMS have issued an ultimatum of 48 hours to the Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal to meet demands of the striking doctors. The Association said if the TMC-led government in the state fails to meet the demands, they would be forced to resort to indefinite strike at AIIMS. Amid country-wide protests by doctors in solidarity with the striking doctors of West Bengal, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday had called for a nationwide strike on June 17, while demanding safe working conditions for doctors.

The Association also launched a three-day pan-India protest, beginning Friday to express solidarity with the junior doctors agitating against the assault of their colleague in Kolkata. Several resident doctors had also held a protest at Jantar Mantar in the national capital against the brutal attack on a Kolkata intern, following the death of a 75-year-old patient late on Monday. West Bengal: Government Junior Doctors on Strike Rejects Mamata Banerjee's 4-Hour Ultimatum, Alleges TMC of Threatening Them.

The Issue

The protest began across the country on Friday after a junior doctor at the state-run NRS Hospital in Kolkata was allegedly beaten up by the kin of a 75-year-old patient, who died there late on Monday night. After the brutal incident, doctors in most government hospitals across the state stopped working. The family members of the deceased patient alleged medical negligence.

An intern named Paribaha Mukherjee sustained a serious skull injury in the attack and was admitted in the intensive care unit of the Institute of Neurosciences. She was then shifted to the general ward and shall be released from the hospital soon.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday urged the government to pass a law that makes any attack on doctors a non-bailable offence and urged Mamata Banerjee to withdraw her ultimatum against the doctors in her state, that triggered strikes across the country. "Heinous repeated attacks on doctors across India esp WBengal have led to this situation.Govt must pass a Law to make any attack on Docs a non-bailable offence with min 12 yr jail. Draconian Clinical Establishment Act that treats Docs as criminals must be withdrawn," he tweeted.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 15, 2019 08:47 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).