‘One-day' strike by doctors against NMC Bill to continue on Friday

New Delhi, Aug 01: The protest against the National Medical Commission Bill (NMC) 2019 Bill by the doctors, which was supposed to be a one-day strike on Thursday, will continue even on Friday.

The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FRDA) will continue their strike against National Medical Commission Bill tomorrow, while the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Patna and Delhi would also join FRDA in the strike, reported ANI.

The NMC Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha on July 29, was cleared even by the Rajya Sabha today. Today’s protest was a 'token' strike, but now with FRDA announcing that it would continue even on Friday, the doctors’ stir is taking a serious turn.

The FRDA president Sumedh Sandanshiv had earlier warned that the resident doctors will refrain from working in OPDs, emergency departments and ICUs as a mark of protest on Thursday. This may well continue on Friday and likely to cause great inconvenience to patients.

Sandanshiv had also threatened that strike will continue for an indefinite period if the bill is tabled and passed in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was tabled and passed by the Rajya Sabha today amid widespread protests by the medical fraternity in different parts of the country.

Healthcare services at government hospitals are likely to be severely hit. The IMA had called for demonstrations and hunger strikes at its local branches and had urged students to boycott classes. It has warned in a statement that it will intensify the agitation if the government continues to be "indifferent to our concerns".

At a joint meeting of representatives of the FORDA, the URDA and the RDA-AIIMS held on Tuesday, it was resolved to oppose the NMC Bill, 2019 in its current form.

IMA or the Indian Medical Association is the largest body of doctors and medical students in the country with around three lakh members.