Raj: Resident doctors to resume emergency duties as govt orders formation of safety committees

Jaipur, Aug 21 (PTI) Resident doctors in Rajasthan have decided to resume work in emergency wards and ICUs after the state government on Wednesday ordered medical colleges to form committees to enhance safety in their attached hospitals.

However, they will continue to boycott work in the outpatient departments (OPD) as part of the ongoing agitation against the incident of rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at a state-run hospital in Kolkata.

The government order came after a meeting of Health Minister Gajendra Singh Khinvsar with the representatives of resident doctors of the state, during which a decision was taken to form a committee to look into the demands.

Khinvsar said 7-8 points raised by the doctors were resolved in the meeting.

"The resident doctors will resume work in emergencies and ICUs," he said.

After the meeting, Commissioner of medical education Iqbal Khan issued an order asking principals of government medical colleges to form committees at the college level to ensure safety and security of healthcare professionals in the attached hospitals.

The notification directed that the committees should look into ensuring sufficient numbers of high resolution CCTV cameras at strategic locations including entrance, exit, corridors, dark spots and sensitive places, and deploying well-trained security guards, among other safety measures.

Following the order, the protesting doctors said they would resume services in the emergency wards and ICUs of government hospitals.

"Keeping in mind the public interest and agreements made on the demands of resident doctors by the Rajasthan government, we have decided to restart emergency services in the state," Dr Manohar Siyol, president of the Jaipur Association of Resident Doctors, said.

He said resident doctors across the state will resume work in emergency and ICU wards from Thursday.

The resident doctors had announced to boycott work in OPD and wards on August 12 over the Kolkata incident but essential services such as emergency wards and ICU were exempted. However, they later intensified the agitation and boycotted the emergency services.PTI SDA RPA