Resident doctors threaten indefinite strike, 83 doctors detained

Resident doctors here had threatened to continue the strike for an indefinite period if the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill is tabled and passed in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Following which, 83 doctors have been detained from AIIMS SJH & URDA when they held a demonstration and tried to march towards Parliament.

New Delhi: Resident doctors of healthcare services at several government hospitals, including AIIMS and RML here, went on a strike and withdrew all services including that at the emergency department to protest key legislation that seeks to regulate the medical education sector, on Thursday. Following which, 83 doctors have been detained from AIIMS SJH & URDA when they held a demonstration and tried to march towards Parliament.

The police said that the protesting doctors were detained and some of them were let off later.

The area around Parliament saw a heavy deployment of police. The roads around it were reportedly barricaded, slowing vehicular movement in the area.

Resident doctors had threatened to continue the strike for an indefinite period if the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill is tabled and passed in Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

Amid widespread protests by the medical fraternity, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan in a tweet on Wednesday night said that he would table the NMC bill for consideration and passage in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

He also assured countrymen that the "historic" bill, if passed, would bring "mega changes in the medical education sector."

The bill, which seeks to replace the graft-tainted Medical Council of India (MCI), had got the nod of Lok Sabha on July 29.

The bill was passed by Lok Sabha on Monday even as thousands of doctors protested against it across the country.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has also expressed reservations over several sections of the bill, had given a call for a 24-hour withdrawal of non-essential services on Wednesday across the country. It has warned in a statement that it will intensify the agitation if the government continues to be "indifferent to our concerns."

The fraternity claims that the bill will encourage quackery. Doctors are demanding certain amendments in the bill. According to them, if not amended, the bill will lead to the deterioration of medical education and the degradation of healthcare services.

They are objecting to section 45 of the bill, which, they claim, empowers the Union government to override any suggestion of the National Medical Commission.