Agitating doctors continue cease work’; await WB govt’s action on ground

Expressed satisfaction over their "partial success" after a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the fifth attempt on Monday night

Kolkata: Junior doctors continued their ‘cease work’ stir in hospitals and sit-in near Swasthya Bhawan on Tuesday morning, asserting they will take a final call on withdrawing their agitation only after the State government implements its announcements made on the previous night “in true spirit”.

The protesting doctors expressed satisfaction over their “partial success” after a meeting with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the fifth attempt on Monday night.

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“We have already said that we will decide our next step regarding the ongoing agitation and ‘cease work’ only after seeing concrete actions on the ground and the progress of the Supreme Court proceedings.

“Our aim is to get justice, and while we have achieved partial success, the health secretary has not been removed,” a protesting doctor said at the protest site near Swasthya Bhawan, the West Bengal health department’s headquarters, on Tuesday.

Accepting the bulk of the five-point charter of demand placed by the agitating junior doctors, Banerjee had on Monday night announced her decision to transfer a section of Kolkata Police and the state health department top brass, including CP Vineet Goyal, from their respective positions.

Banerjee also announced the removal of the Director of Medical Education (DME) and the Director of Health Services (DHS) besides the Deputy Commissioner (North Division) who allegedly offered money to the parents of the RG Kar victim.

An agitating doctor said they were eager to see what posts these officials would be assigned to as it would impact their stance on the next course of action, including consideration of withdrawing the sit-in and ‘cease work’.

“We will announce the name of the new police commissioner after 4 pm on Tuesday after the scheduled hearing in Supreme Court gets over,” the chief minister said at the stroke of midnight after concluding her meeting with the agitating junior doctors at her Kalighat residence, barely hours ahead of the scheduled Supreme Court hearing on the RG Kar hospital matter.

The decisions were formalised in the minutes of the meeting which was signed by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and countersigned by the delegation of 42 doctors who participated in the talks to end the RG Kar hospital deadlock.

Medics and locals celebrated the announcements at midnight by beating drums and blowing conch shells at the Swasthya Bhawan agitation site. On Tuesday morning, they were seen singing collectively and raising slogans.