The government, in a statement issued on Saturday after a meeting with medical associations, called on doctors to return to work in the public interest. It said it would set up a committee to propose measures to better protect health workers.
In response, the Indian Medical Association said it was studying the government’s proposal but did not call off the strike, which was due to end at 6am on Sunday.
The strike was the latest response to the killing of a 31-year-old resident doctor last week at the Calcutta Medical College where she worked.
The crime sparked nationwide protests among health workers and a wave of public outrage over violence against women reminiscent of the notorious gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012.
Government promises to improve safety for doctors on night shifts
There was a heavy police presence outside R.G. Kar Medical College in Calcutta where a doctor was raped and murdered and the hospital premises were empty.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, which includes Kolkata, has backed protests across the state.
His government on Saturday night announced measures to improve the safety of women working night shifts, such as providing rest rooms and safe areas monitored by cameras.
He also asked private institutions to look into measures such as night patrols to make the working environment safer for women.
The Central Bureau of Investigation of India has now arrested a suspect in the case.
Students investigated for rape and murder of doctor
The CBI has summoned several medical students of the college as part of the probe, according to a Kolkata police source, who said the agency also questioned the hospital’s director on Friday.
Protests led by doctors, civil society representatives and political leaders took place in Kolkata throughout the day. A large number of private clinics and diagnostic centres remained closed.
This was stated by Dr. Sandeep Saha, a private pediatrician in the city. Reuters that he would not treat patients except in emergency cases.
Hospitals and clinics in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Guwahati, Assam and Chennai, Tamil Nadu and other cities have joined the strike, which will be one of the biggest closures of hospital services in recent times. (Reuters)