Doctors offer elective OPD services outside Nirman Bhawan in Delhi

NEW DELHI: Doctors have decided to provide elective outpatient services outside Nirman Bhawan on Monday as they continue their strike for the eighth day over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.

Resident doctors will be available to provide elective OPD services in around 36 specialties, including medicine, surgery, obstetrics & gynaecology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, and orthopedics, to patients outside Nirman Bhawan on Monday, according to a statement by the AIIMS RDA.

However, emergency services will continue as before at the hospitals.

The doctors' strike in the national capital over the rape and murder of a medic at a state-run hospital in Kolkata completed a week on Sunday and is now entering its second week, causing difficulties for patients.

Late Sunday, resident doctors announced that their strike will continue.

The doctors will proceed to Nirman Bhawan at 11 am, according to a statement by RDAs.

A resident doctor from the Safdarjung Hospital said a concrete response from the government regarding bringing the Central Protection Act for medics would have offered some relief.

"However, after seven days, we are still waiting. As stated earlier, the strike will continue indefinitely until our demands are met," the doctor said.

Protests began here on August 12 in the evening. Initially, restricted to medical college campuses, doctors started taking to the streets from Friday.

The action committee, formed on August 15 for the central law, includes members from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, Safdarjung Hospital, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College, and Lady Hardinge Medical College.