SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Sept 20: Outpatient Department (OPD) services at Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital (SNMMCH) in Dhanbad came to a halt on Saturday morning as junior doctors launched a strike. The protest was triggered by the alleged assault of a woman intern by the representative of Dhanbad MP on Friday late evening.
According to agitating doctors, MP representative Rampravesh Das, accompanied by some friends, entered the surgery ward in an inebriated condition and misbehaved with the intern while she was attending to a patient.
Despite immediately informing Superintendent Dr D.K. Gindauria, the doctors claimed that no help came from the hospital administration. They later reached out to Health Minister Dr. Irfan Ansari and even tried contacting MP Dhulu Mahto, but received no response.
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Doctors boycott OPD services
“Since no action was taken overnight, we decided to boycott OPD services. Registration counters were shut down this morning, and the strike will continue until the accused are arrested,” said senior residents leading the agitation.
The woman intern, who belongs to a minority community, reportedly fears for her safety as the accused is closely linked to a BJP MP.
Protests spread to other medical colleges
The agitation at SNMMCH quickly resonated across Jharkhand, with junior doctors and interns in all five other government medical colleges—RIMS Ranchi, MGMMCH Jamshedpur, PJMCH Dumka, SBMCH Hazaribagh, and MMCH Palamu—joining in solidarity.
Doctors there continued working while wearing black badges, following an appeal from the Junior Doctors Network (JDN) state body.
JDN chairman Dr. Sushil Kumar and general secretary Dr. Raghvendra Kumar condemned the incident.
“The assault on a woman intern inside a hospital ward by a representative of an MP is a serious matter. We will not remain silent. If proper action is not taken, the agitation at SNMMCH will spread across all medical colleges in the state. We expect urgent intervention from the health minister to ensure doctors’ safety,” said Dr. Raghvendra Kumar.
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Accused denies charges, superintendent seeks action
Meanwhile, MP representative Rampravesh Das denied the allegations levelled by the junior doctors.
SNMMCH superintendent Dr. D.K. Gindauria stated that he would request the district administration to take action against those responsible for the assault.
