State govt officials urge junior doctors to withdraw hunger strike
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 continued till Wednesday midnight.
In the evening, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant 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 top state government officials told the junior doctors that all their demands have been met and work was going on to enhance security arrangements in all the medical colleges. The junior doctors, however, remained stuck to their 10-point demands, including the removal of the health secretary. The government officials during the meeting requested the junior doctors to withdraw the hunger strike. The state government tried to convince the doctors that it would take some time to put in place all the security arrangements as they had demanded. No conclusive decision, however, came till midnight as the meeting between two sides went beyond 11.15 pm.
Junior doctors are likely to continue the hunger strike till all their 10-point demands are met, sources said.
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 number of patients in outpatient departments (OPDs) was low due to festivities.
A section of senior doctors from various medical colleges on Wednesday morning, however, threatened to submit individual resignations 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 fulfil 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. At North Bengal Medical College, around 35 senior doctors also submitted mass resignations.
“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 on 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, and 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 memorandum 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 on a hunger strike after Puja if the situation did not change. They alleged that the college council members have indulged in “revenge politics”.
