West Bengal: Health services crippled as protesting doctors refuse to budge

Junior doctors have been demonstrating outside 'Swathya Bhavan', the State Health Department headquarters, for over 40 hours

Kolkata: Junior doctors on Thursday continued their sit-in outside the West Bengal Health Department’s office as well as their ‘cease work’ over the alleged rape and murder of a young medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.

The agitating doctors have been demonstrating outside ‘Swathya Bhavan’, the State Health Department headquarters, for over 40 hours. The government had Wednesday rejected their demands for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s presence and a live broadcast as preconditions for talks to resolve the impasse.

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A large number of police personnel have been deployed in and around ‘Swathya Bhavan’ at Salt Lake, and traffic movement was regulated. “We will continue our agitation and ‘cease work’. But, we did not want to continue this. The State government is not open to holding any meeting with us. And, we want to make it clear that there is no politics behind our stir,” one of the protesting doctors said.

Meanwhile, healthcare services at state-run hospitals remained crippled on Thursday, as the ‘cease work’ by the junior doctors entered the 34th day. Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya had on Wednesday said the government remains open to discussions, but suggested that “political forces” might be influencing the protests.

This led to a quick rebuttal from the medics, who dismissed the claims as baseless, and asserted that the protests would continue till their demands were met. The State government had invited the agitating doctors to a meeting at State Secretariat Nabanna at 6 pm on Wednesday, but the invitation did not confirm whether Banerjee would attend it.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, in an email, urged the doctors to send a delegation of 12 to 15 members and stressed the importance of resuming work, citing a Supreme Court order directing them to return to duty by 5 pm on Tuesday. Despite the invitation, the junior doctors insisted on several preconditions before agreeing to the meeting.

“We want the discussion to be held in the presence of the CM and be telecast live. We want at least 30 representatives, as this movement is spread across various medical colleges and hospitals,” a member of the junior doctors’ forum had said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The protests began after the body of the postgraduate trainee was found with severe injury marks at RG Kar hospital on August 9. The CBI is conducting a probe upon directions of the Calcutta High Court.

The junior doctors have since been demanding justice for the woman doctor, along with enhanced security measures for women health professionals, besides the suspension of several officials, including the Kolkata Police Commissioner and the state health secretary, for alleged mishandling of the case.