New Delhi (PTI): Resident doctors from major hospitals in Delhi will hold a protest outside the Bengal Bhawan in the national capital on Wednesday evening to demand justice for the trainee doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The protest was announced was the Joint Delhi Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) Action Committee late Tuesday night.
Resident doctors from AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, RML Hospital, GTB Hospital, Maulana Azad Medical College, Lady Hardinge Medical College and others will participate in the protest which will be held at 6 pm on Wednesday, a statement said.
The protest is part of a wider movement that began on August 12 with a pan-India strike against the alleged rape and murder of the trainee doctor and lasted until August 22. It was temporarily suspended after assurances from the Supreme Court that justice would be expedited, the statement said.
However, the investigation has "stalled" with no action taken report (ATR) shared publicly, as was highlighted during a recent Supreme Court hearing, it said.
The case has brought the issue of healthcare worker safety, especially for female doctors, to the forefront, the RDA said.
"We suspended our strike in good faith, trusting the process, but now we feel betrayed," a representative of the Joint Delhi Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) Action Committee said.
"The lack of communication and delayed action shows an alarming lack of sensitivity toward our safety concerns," the representative said.
During a hearing on August 20, the Supreme Court established a National Task Force (NTF) to address safety concerns, with an interim report expected within three weeks and a final report within two months.
Over 50 days have since passed without any report, prompting outrage among resident doctors who feel their concerns are being ignored, the statement said.
It claimed the West Bengal government has failed to reassure the agitating junior doctors, many of whom are on a hunger strike.
The Joint Delhi Resident Doctors' Association (RDA) Action Committee will hold a press conference on Thursday on these issues and make it clear that if any harm comes to any healthcare worker as a result of this ongoing struggle, they will withdraw from both elective and emergency services and hold the appropriate authorities responsible for any repercussions, the statement said.
The junior doctors of R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata have been protesting against the alleged rape and murder of a colleague on August 9. The incident took place when the trainee doctor had gone to sleep in the hospital's seminar room during a break.
The junior doctors went on "cease work" following the incident. They ended their stir after 42 days on September 21 following assurances from the state government to look into their demands.
However, they began a hunger strike at the Dorina Crossing in Dharmatala in the heart of Kolkata on October 5, claiming that the government did not fulfil their demands.
Some of the demands of the protesters are justice for their colleague, immediate removal of Health Secretary N S Nigam, and formation of task forces to ensure essential provisions for CCTV, on-call rooms and washrooms at their workplaces.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Tuesday urged citizens to protect the ethos of the Constitution and said the struggle to defend India's inherent philosophy must be reinvigorated and reignited in the 75th year of its adoption.
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said the Constitution is a powerful tool to protect the poorest and weakest sections of society, and the stronger it is, the stronger the country will be.
In a swipe at the BJP, the opposition party also asserted that at a time when those out to destroy the Constitution are showing insincere commitment towards it, "our duty to protect it and fight for its true values becomes all the more relevant".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the people of India should come together to protect each and every thought expressed in the Constitution.
"The 75th year of the adoption of the Constitution has begun today. I extend my warmest wishes to all Indians on this historic occasion," the Congress president said in a post on X.
"The Constitution of India, painstakingly and carefully drafted by our foremothers and forefathers is the lifeblood of our nation. It guarantees us social, economic and political rights. It constitutes India into a sovereign socialist democratic republic," he said.
Justice, liberty, equality and fraternity are not just ideals or ideas, they are the way of life for 140 crore Indians, Kharge asserted.
"Today, we recall the tremendous contribution of the Constituent Assembly and its prolific members. We are forever indebted to their vision and wisdom," he said.
Kharge said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Babasaheb Dr BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Dr Rajendra Prasad, KM Munshi, Sarojini Naidu, Alladi Krishnaswamy Ayyar, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur and several eminent personalities were not just revered national icons but inspiring personalities who became the torchbearers of hope for generations together.
No mention of the Constituent Assembly should be complete without recalling the contribution of the 15 women members who provided equally important inputs for an inclusive India, the Congress president said.
"We must also not forget that the Constituent Assembly received uncountable suggestions from ordinary citizens which are a matter of record," he said.
The Objectives Resolution moved by Nehru and Ambedkar's momentous last speech to the Constituent Assembly form the Magna Carta in protecting the tenets of the Constitution, he said.
"We, the patriotic citizens of India, now have the onerous task of protecting the ethos of the Constitution," Kharge said.
"We, the people of India, should, therefore, come together to protect each and every thought expressed in the Constitution," he said.
In the 75th year of the Constitution's adoption, the struggle to defend India's inherent philosophy must be reinvigorated and reignited, just like the era of the national movement, the Congress president said.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi said, "Heartiest greetings to all of you on Constitution Day. The basic spirit of our Constitution is that justice and rights should be equal for all. Everyone should get an opportunity to live with self-respect."
"The Constitution is a powerful tool to protect the poorest and weakest sections of society. The stronger it is, the stronger our country will be," he said.
"On this day, I salute the fighters, martyrs and every member of the Constituent Assembly who protected the idea of the Constitution and reiterate my resolve to protect it," Gandhi said.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that freedom fighters and great people together created a Constitution that ensured freedom, equality, fraternity and justice for crores of Indians.
"Our Constitution is the protective shield of crores of Indians which gives them every kind of rights. Happy Constitution Day to all the people of the country," she said.
"Salute to the great ancestors, martyrs, revolutionaries and every member of the Constituent Assembly. This democracy and Constitution, obtained from their tireless hard work and sacrifices, is our pride. Come, let us pledge that we will protect it in every situation," Priyanka Gandhi said in her post in Hindi on X.
Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said India marks an important landmark as it celebrates the 75th Constitution Day today, a day when Ambedkar's revolutionary text was adopted by the Constituent Assembly.
The Constitution of India is not merely a document, it is India's soul and history of millennia in motion, he said in a post on X.
"A living document that gives hope to 140 crore Indians, the Constitution is what keeps the ideals of justice, equality, inclusivity and democracy alive in India," Venugopal said.
"At a time when those out to destroy the Constitution are showing insincere commitment towards it, our duty to protect it and fight for its true values becomes all the more relevant," Venugopal said.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh recalled two books on the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution of India by the Constituent Assembly.
Many books have been, and continue to be written on the making of the Constitution. But two have become evergreen classics, he said.
"Granville Austin's scholarly 'The Indian Constitution: Cornerstone of a Nation' first appeared in 1966. He had got unprecedented access to the private collections of a number of key personalities, especially Dr. Rajendra Prasad and K.M. Munshi. He had also interviewed many members of the Constituent Assembly," Ramesh said.
B Shiva Rao's magisterial four-volume "The Framing of the Indian Constitution" was published in 1968, he noted. It has a very poignant letter from Nehru to Shiva Rao on writing a foreword sent just three days before the then prime minister passed away, Ramesh recalled.
Incidentally, Shiva Rao's almost now-forgotten brother Benegal Narsing Rau was a pivotal player in the making of the Constitution, he said.