New Delhi: The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) India has announced an indefinite strike in government hospitals across the country from Monday in protest against the murder of a female junior resident doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College.

FORDA has formally written a letter to the Union Health Ministry announcing the closure of regular services in hospitals except emergency services and has appealed to the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of government hospitals across the country to join this strike.

In view of this, resident doctors are on strike in most of the government hospitals in Delhi. Resident doctors in AIIMS have also announced a strike. This can lead to a collapse of the medical system in Delhi.

There will be a strike in these hospitals

The RDA of ten major hospitals - Safdarjung, RML, Lady Hardinge Medical College (LMMC), Sucheta Kriplani, Kalawati Saran, Lok Nayak, GB Pant, GTB, DDU, Ambedkar Hospital and IHBAS (Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences) have informed the hospital administration about the strike.

Due to this, OPD, regular surgery, tests and care of patients admitted in wards will also be affected. But resident doctors will be present on duty in the emergency wards of hospitals.

Thousands of patients come to hospitals every day

Every day about ten thousand patients reach Safdarjung Hospital's OPD, about eight thousand in RML Hospital, about six thousand in Loknayak, about two and a half thousand in GB Pant Hospital and about four and a half thousand patients reach both the hospitals of LHMC for treatment. Apart from Delhi, patients from other states also reach these hospitals for treatment.

Resident doctors will be on strike

Although faculty and consultant level doctors will be present on duty in the OPD of hospitals, regular services will be affected due to the resident doctors being on strike. It will be difficult to treat new patients in OPD. It is being told that most of the surgeries scheduled in hospitals have been postponed.

Candle march in AIIMS

Resident doctors in AIIMS have not announced a strike. Therefore, OPD and regular surgeries will be conducted in AIIMS on Monday like normal days. But on Tuesday, under the leadership of AIIMS RDA, resident doctors protested the incident by holding a candle march.

Along with taking strict action in the Kolkata incident, the resident doctors' organizations have demanded the central government to prepare a protocol for the safety of doctors in hospitals across the country and form an expert committee to make the Central Health Safety Act a law. Doctors have been demanding this for a long time. The resident doctors' organizations say that this time they will not back down from this demand.