, announces nationwide strike on Monday

The apex body of doctors said that it will continue to hold protests on Saturday and Sunday in view of the continued suffering of the resident doctors and repeated occurrence of such incidents without redressal. The IMA said that the protests will include wearing black badges, dharnas, peace marches and has requested support from all associations of the fraternity to join the agitation. The IMA also called for a "nationwide withdrawal of non-essential services in all health care institutions" on Monday.

"IMA condemns the recent incident of violence against Dr Paribaha Mukherjee who was brutally attacked by a violent mob at NRS Medical College, Kolkata and demands an exemplary action by the state government. All the legitimate demands of the resident doctors in West Bengal should be accepted unconditionally," RV Asokan, secretary general of IMA, said today.

Agitating doctors decline Mamata's invite for talks

The agitating junior doctors declined Mamata's invitation for a meeting at the state secretariat, saying it is a ploy to break their stir.

"This is a ploy to break our unity, our agitation. We will not attend any meeting at the state secretariat. The chief minister has to come here (NRS Medical College and Hospital) and deliver an unconditional apology for the manner in which she had addressed us during her visit to SSKM Hospital yesterday," a spokesperson of the joint forum of junior doctors said.

After the protesting doctors did not turn up on Friday, Banerjee gave them time again at 5 pm on Saturday for the meeting at state secretariat Nabanna, senior physician Sukumar Mukherjee said.

Tried to contact Mamata, got no response: Bengal governor

West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi called up Mamata to discuss the issue but got no response from her.

"I have tried to contact the chief minister. I have called her up. Till this moment there is no response from her. If she calls me, we will discuss the matter," he told reporters. Tripathi also paid a visit to injured junior doctor Paribaha Mukhopadhyay at the hospital where he is undergoing treatment.

Doctors seek Mamata's apology, set conditions to withdraw stir

Agitating doctors demanded Mamata's unconditional apology and set six conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir that has disrupted healthcare services across West Bengal.

Listing the six conditions, the agitators said the chief minister will have to visit the injured doctors at the hospital and her office should release a statement condemning the attack on them. The doctors also sought documentary evidence of judicial enquiry against the inactivity of the police to provide protection to the junior doctors as well as details of action taken against the accused. They demanded unconditional withdrawal of all "false cases and charges" which were imposed on junior doctors and medical students across the state in the wake of their strike. They also stressed on their demand for improvement of infrastructure in all health facilities as well as posting of armed police personnel there.

Don't make it a prestige issue: Union minister Harsh Vardhan to Mamata

In a

, the Union health minister said that the entire country is being adversely affected due to the developments in West Bengal, adding that an amicable end to the agitation is strongly warranted.

"Despite getting beaten up so badly, doctors have only asked her (

) to provide them adequate security and also demanded action against the perpetrators of the violence as per the law. But instead of doing that, she warned them and gave an ultimatum which angered doctors across the country and they proceeded on strike," he said.

"So if the chief minister acts in a sensitive manner in such a grave scenario, patients across the country will not suffer. I plead to the West Bengal chief minister to not make this an issue of prestige," he added. He also urged the chief minister to intervene in resolving the current impasse and take steps to provide a secure working environment for doctors in her state.

Protests spread to other parts of India

The stir by junior doctors assumed nationwide proportions today with government doctors in various states expressing solidarity and resorting to agitations. In Delhi, scores of doctors at several government and private hospitals held demonstrations by boycotting work, marching and raising slogans. Around 4,500 resident doctors in Maharashtra, including some 2,800 in Mumbai, went on a one-day strike.

In Hyderabad and other places in Telangana, Junior doctors staged protests against the assault at major state-run hospitals, including Gandhi hospital and Osamania General hospital in the city, P S Vijayender, a leader of the junior doctors association in Telangana, said. In Jaipur, doctors at the SMS government hospital wore black bands and helmets to express solidarity with their protesting colleagues in West Bengal. Doctors from other districts of Rajasthan also took part in the token protest, according to a report.

IMA seeks central law against hospital violence

In a letter to Union home minister Amit Shah, the IMA requested him "to bring a central legislation in the form of special law against violence on doctors and health care establishments".

"Any form of violence against medical profession and facilities will be counterproductive, demoralise health providers, thus taking away the confidence and courage of medical profession especially in critical situations," it said

Plea in SC for safety, security of doctors

The petition, filed by advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava, sought directions to Union ministries of home affairs and health as also the West Bengal government to depute state-appointed security personnel at all government hospitals across the country to ensuresafety and security of the doctors.

"Due to protests, the healthcare services in the country have been badly disrupted and many people are dying because of the absence of the doctors," it said.

"As per the study conducted by IMA, more than 75 percent of doctors across the country have faced some form of violence. This study concluded that 50 percent violent incidents took place in the Intensive Care Unit of hospitals and in 70 percent of cases, the relatives of the patients were actively involved," the plea added.

High court refuses to pass interim order

The

on Friday refused to pass any interim order on the strike by junior doctors in protest against the attack and asked the state government to resolve the issue so that patients can get health services.

The court also directed the Mamata government to apprise it of the steps taken following the Kolkata assault and reminded the striking doctors of the 'Hippocratic Oath' they take to ensure the welfare of all patients. The bench fixed June 21 for further hearing of the petition.

Over 100 senior doctors resign

Over 100 senior doctors of various state-run hospitals across West Bengal resigned from their services Friday amid the ongoing agitation by the medical fraternity. The doctors, including heads of departments of medical colleges and other hospitals in Kolkata, Burdwan, Darjeeling and North 24 Parganas districts, sent their resignation letters to the state director of medical education, a senior health department official said.

"We express fullest solidarity to the current movement of NRS Medical College and Hosptial and other government hospitals agitating to protest the brutal attack on them while on duty," Dr P Kundu, director of the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine, said in the resignation letter.

Prominent Kolkata personalities urge Mamata to resolve impasse

Several prominent personalities of the city came out in support of the agitating doctors, with some of them urging the West Bengal chief minister to find a solution to the impasse.

, actor Kaushik Sen, musician Debojyoti Mishra, along with senior doctors from diverse fields, visited the agitators at NRS Medical College and Hospital, where the attack took place. Aparna Sen insisted that the TMC supremo should apologise to the agitating doctors for the alleged threats she issued to them on Thursday. "There is no harm or no shame in saying sorry ... That will not hamper her popularity," she said.

Outsiders behind protests, claims Mamata

Unfazed by the escalating protests, Banerjee today reiterated her statement that some outsiders were involved in instigating the doctors. She claimed she had seen some outsiders inside the SSKM Hospital premises raising slogans against the government.

"I had rightly said yesterday that there were outsiders involved in yesterday's incident. I had seen some outsiders who were raising slogans there," Banerjee said . She had set a 2 pm-deadline to the striking doctors to resume work Thursday, which they defied and continued with the stir.

(With inputs from agencies)