RG Kar case: WBJDF to seek new talks with state govt over demands

A new communique will be sent to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to request a discussion on their unmet demands. Until then, junior doctors will continue their cease-work protest and sit-in demonstration in front of Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters in Salt Lake, on the northern outskirts of Kolkata.

Kolkata: West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Association (WBJDF), the umbrella body organising a protest against the ghastly rape and murder of a junior doctor of R.G. Kar Medical College Hospital in Kolkata, will seek fresh discussions with the state government on their unfulfilled demands, especially on the one related to the removal or replacement of the current state health secretary, Narayan Swarup Nigam.

A fresh communique will be forwarded to the Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on this count where the forum will seek discussion on their unfulfilled demands. Till that time the cease-work protest and sit-in demonstration by the junior doctors in front of Swastha Bhavan, the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata will continue.

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Besides the demand for the removal of the state health secretary, WBJDF Representative Aniket Mahato said the second demand is ensuring the safety and security within the campuses of medical colleges & hospitals to avoid the recurrence of the R.G.Kar-like situation.

The third demand is the immediate formation of resident doctors’ associations and students’ councils in every medical college in the state.

Mahato said that although there had been discussion on the matter before with the state government, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, no conclusion has been reached as yet.

He emphasized that the formation of resident doctors’ associations and students’ councils at all medical colleges in the state is necessary to bring back a democratic atmosphere in these institutes.

On Tuesday, the West Bengal government announced the decision to remove the Kolkata Police commissioner, deputy commissioner (north division), director of health services and director of medical education, as was decided at the meeting between the Chief Minister and the WBJDF delegates.

Although the issue of removal or replacement of the current state health secretary was discussed in the meeting, the Chief Minister reportedly was unwilling to accept that because the replacement of everyone at one go might lead to administrative problems in the smooth functioning of the department.