Prayagraj: Candle March Protests Kolkata Incident, Disrupts Hospital Operations

Prayagraj, August 17, 2024: A candle march protesting the recent incident in Kolkata took place on Saturday, organized by the AMA. The march began at SRN Hospital and proceeded to Subhash Chauraha in Civil Lines. Participants included AMA officials, resident doctors, members of the Indian Dental Association, and doctors from various organizations.

Under the leadership of Resident Doctors Association President Dr. Sachin Kumar and General Secretary Dr. Ravi Pratap Singh, participants chanted slogans like “We will not tolerate” and “Hang the criminal.” They expressed their anger with chants such as “Nirbhaya is still scared” and “What kind of freedom is this?” The protest also paid tribute to the deceased doctor from RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata.

Due to the protest, SRN Hospital did not issue any prescriptions on Saturday. Over the past five days, the hospital could only issue 2,450 prescriptions out of an expected 10,000. Senior doctors attended to patients with old prescriptions. By 1 p.m., they had seen 16 patients in cardiology, 22 in medicine, 14 in gastroenterology, 15 in orthopedics, and 11 in neurology.

OPD in-charge Sushil reported a sharp drop in prescriptions: 200 on August 16, 700 on August 14, 750 on August 13, and 800 on August 12. Normally, the hospital issues 2,000 new patient prescriptions daily. The protest also led to the postponement of over 250 operations in five days, leaving many patients suffering.

Among those present were President Dr. Subodh Jain, Secretary Dr. Ashutosh Gupta, former Vice President Dr. Ashok Agarwal, and several other notable doctors.

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