Docs hail SC task force to formulate safety protocol

New Delhi: Within hours of calling it off, central government-run RML Hospital on Tuesday said it will continue with its strike in solidarity with other resident doctors' bodies, which have been agitating for more than a week demanding a central law on doctors' safety in the wake of the rape and murder of a Kolkata medic. Having called it off earlier in the day, the resident doctors of Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital issued a revised statement saying the strike will continue.

"There was some miscommunication, and we apologise for the same. We want to clarify that we stand with our colleagues and other RDAs. We will make our decision only after there is a consensus among all RDAs, and the common decision of all RDAs will be our decision. We stand UNITED," the hospital's RDA said in the statement. On Tuesday, bodies representing resident doctors from across the country welcomed the Supreme Court's intervention in the Kolkata murder case and decided to conduct a pan-India meeting for a decision on the ongoing strike. The Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a 10-member task force to formulate a national protocol to ensure safety and facilities for doctors. The task force will submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months.

The Federation of Resident Doctors' Association, or FORDA, and the Federation of All India Medical Association, or FAIMA, hailed the SC order and said they would conduct a meeting soon on the strike. Tuesday marked the ninth day of the strike by doctors, who in the wake of the Kolkata murder have been demanding a central law on the safety of medics working at hospitals. The striking doctors are demanding a fast and transparent investigation by the CBI into the murder and the formation of a Central Protection Act.

"Please trust us," the Supreme Court said while requesting the doctors protesting across the country over a Kolkata doctor's alleged rape and killing to call off the strike and resume work. The court said abstention from the work of doctors affects those segments of the society that are in need of medical care. "We earnestly appeal to all the doctors that we are here to ensure that their safety and protection is the matter of highest national concern."