Patients In India Suffer As Doctors’ Strike Enters 2nd Week

News Desk

New Delhi: In a dingy pedestrian subway in New Delhi, patients awaiting treatment at nearby hospitals lie on the ground as queues grow longer, exacerbated by a strike of Indian doctors protesting the murder of a colleague.

Oresa Khatoon, 65, fears that her son may die without treatment as doctors from government-run hospitals continue to withhold non-essential services. The strike, now in its second week, demands justice for their slain colleague and better security measures for medical professionals.

Khatoon has been anxiously waiting for ten days for an appointment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of India’s top state-run hospitals. “His condition is not good at all,” she said, glancing worriedly at her 30-year-old son, who has been bedridden for the last four years due to a brain tumor. “I don’t know if this strike is for good or bad. All I fear is that my son will die by the time the appointment date comes,” Oresa added.

Patients often wait in the underpass, seeking refuge from the blazing heat or torrential monsoon rains, while enduring long lines to see a doctor. However, the ongoing strike has worsened their plight.

The protests were sparked after the bloodied body of a 31-year-old doctor was discovered at a state-run hospital in Kolkata on August 9.