Meeting with state govt inconclusive, will continue with protest: Junior doctors

MP, 10 Oct 2024, Kolkata: On the fourth day of the ongoing fast-unto-death protest by junior doctors, the state government held a meeting with the junior doctors that ended a little after 12 am at the midnight of Wednesday.

Junior doctors after coming out of the meeting at Swasthya Bhawan said that state government acknowledged that their demands were genuine but it did not give any specific time as to when all their demands would be met. Terming the meeting "inconclusive", the junior doctors said that they would continue their protest.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant in the evening sent an e-mail to the junior doctors inviting them to a meeting. The junior doctors were urged to attend the meeting with the members of the task force at Swasthya Bhawan. Following this, about 29 members of the West Bengal Junior Doctors Front went to Swasthya Bhawan and took part in the meeting. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary Pant and Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, DGP Rajeev Kumar.

It was learnt from the sources that the Chief Secretary urged the junior doctors to withdraw hunger strike. The junior doctors, however, remained stuck to their 10-point demands, including the removal of the health secretary. The state government officials tried to convince the doctors that it would take some time to put in place all the security arrangements as they had demanded.

Earlier in the day, the spate of a mass resignation by senior doctors expressing their solidarity with the junior doctors in their movement, aiming to prompt the state government to engage in discussion with the juniors had triggered an unprecedented situation with the rest of the city going into a festive mood. After RG Kar, about 200 senior doctors from various medical colleges tendered mass resignation on Wednesday.

The mass resignation by senior doctors from various medical colleges which a section of them termed as “symbolic” did not affect the health services at the government hospitals amid festivity but it caused fear in the minds of the people what will happen if the situation continues. The senior doctors who have tendered mass resignation were however continuing work in the hospitals. The numbers of patients in outpatient departments (OPDs) were low due to festivities.

A section of senior doctors from various medical colleges on Wednesday morning, however, threatened to submit individual resignation if the health condition of junior doctors undergoing fast-unto-death deteriorates and the government does not hold a discussion with the junior doctors. This mass resignation is in support of junior doctors who have been undergoing fast-unto-death to fulfill a 10-point agenda. They have also been demanding justice for the post-graduate trainee doctor who was allegedly raped and murdered in RG Kar.

Around 68 senior doctors in the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital tendered mass resignation on Wednesday joining their counterparts from RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. Amid chants of “we want justice” with burning torches in the hands of the junior doctors, the seniors announced their decision to step down from their position at the hospital. In North Bengal Medical College, around 35 senior doctors also submitted mass resignation.

“We, the teachers of North Bengal Medical College, Darjeeling are dismayed and discouraged to continue our services, under such oppressive circumstances,” read the letter signed by senior doctors from several faculties in the teaching hospital, addressed to the director of medical education.

“While our students and juniors stand at the verge of disaster, we earnestly request the higher authorities to address their demands and ensure resolution of this crisis without any further delay,” the letter said. Many senior doctors from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, Midnapore Medical College have submitted mass resignations.

Health officials confirmed that both senior and junior doctors, along with Resident Medical Officers (RMOs) and assistant professors, were performing their duties. “No official communication regarding the mass resignations has been received. There is a procedure for resignations that must be followed. Healthcare services were not disrupted since no doctor was absent today,” an official said.

Governor CV Ananda Bose on Wednesday met the junior doctors at Esplanade and urged them to withdraw the fast-unto-death. Several organisations of doctors on the other hand held a rally from Salt Lake Karunamoyee to CGO complex and submitted a memorendum to the CBI regarding the investigation to rape and murder incident.

On Wednesday, many members of civil society wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee seeking her intervention so that a dialogue is initiated between the junior doctors and the government.

In a parallel development, about 15 doctors who have already been suspended by RG Medical College council for allegedly indulging in “threat culture” on Wednesday met Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh. Claiming themselves as “victim” they said that they would sit in a hunger strike after Puja if the situation does not change. They alleged that the college council members have indulged in “revenge politics”.