Taking note of the ongoing nationwide strike over violence against doctors in West Bengal, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan appealed to the chief minister of the state, Mamata Banerjee , to not make this an issue of prestige. He also assured doctors that the Central government is committed to ensuring their safety.

"I appeal with folded hands to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to not make this an issue of prestige. Despite getting beaten so badly, doctors only asked her to provide them adequate security and take action against all those behind this as per the law. But, she didn`t do this and gave an ultimatum to the doctors after which doctors of West Bengal and across the country got angry and went on strike. If the chief minister changes her attitude, then patients will not suffer across India," Harsh Vardhan told ANI.

On Friday, Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors joined the nationwide protest. Doctors at Hyderabad`s Nizam`s Institute of Medical Sciences too held protest march.

Delhi Medical Association and Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS have also called for a strike today. Later in the day, Resident Doctors Association of AIIMS also met Union health minister Harsh Vardhan.

Kolkata`s NRS Medical College has been the epicentre of the recent standoff as well as its origin, where the murderous assault on two young interns — Paribaha Mukhopadhyay and Yash Tekwani — on Monday set in motion the sequence of events leading to the paralysed state of Bengal’s public-sector healthcare system.

On Thursday, chief minister Mamata Banerjee finally intervened directly and publicly in Bengal’s health-sector crisis but not in a way the agitating doctors were hoping for: she reached the SSKM Hospital campus around noon and ordered doctors to "get back to work in four hours," failing which the government would act against them, which would include eviction from hostels.

The striking junior doctors, who were demanding the CM’s direct intervention to resolve the impasse, viewed her comments at SSKM as a threat,defied the deadline and vowed to continue their stir till their demands for "security and justice" were met. A similar threat came from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation’s pool of 300 doctors. The doctors are demanding a strong punishment for perpetrators of violence against doctors.

 Health services across Delhi and Maharashtra are likely to be paralysed on Friday with doctors giving a call for a complete shutdown of OPD services and routine surgeries in government hospitals as a mark of solidarity with members of their fraternity in Bengal who have been protesting against murderous attacks on them.

OPDs at AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital, where over 10,000 patients come daily, will remain shut too. AIIMS Patna and Raipur have also extended their support to the shutdown call.

Indian Medical Association are likely to send an appeal to the PM and the Union home minister demanding a stringent “central hospital protection Act” to protect doctors from attack.

In a rare show of solidarity, many doctors from corporate-run hospitals have also given their support to the protest. The resident doctors at the premier hospital wore black badges, bandages and helmets to work on Thursday.Perceived injustice, delay in patient care, overcrowding, long wait for appointment and investigations, shortage of security guards, lack of soft skills among healthcare workers were some of the main reasons for violence. In the majority (91%) of these cases, the perpetrators went unpunished.

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