The agitating junior doctors ignored the Supreme Court’s directive to return to work by 5 pm on Tuesday. They also said that they will not return to duty until their demands are met and the doctor who lost her life in the RG Kar Hospital incident gets justice. Meanwhile, the doctors on Tuesday rejected West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s invitation for talks at the state secretariat to resolve the deadlock on the RG Kar Hospital issue, objecting to the language of the email.
An email sent by state Health Secretary N S Nigam to the protesting doctors on Tuesday evening said, ‘Your small delegation (maximum 10 persons) may visit ‘Nabanna’ to meet the government representatives.’
“The language of the email is not only insulting to us doctors, but it is totally insensitive. We see no reason to respond to this email,” said Dr Debashish Halder, leader of the protesting doctors who staged a sit-in outside the state health department headquarters at ‘Swasthya Bhavan’ in Salt Lake.
The doctors said though the “doors are open” for talks with the state’s top authorities, they will continue with their agitation till their demands are met.
Junior doctors have been on a ‘work strike’ for over a month now in protest against the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital. The protesting doctors did not adhere to the 5 pm deadline set by the Supreme Court for them to resume work. The protesting doctors indicated their intention to stay put in front of the ‘Swasthya Bhavan’ and press for their demands.
Earlier in the day, in a ‘cleaning of health building’ march, the agitating doctors demanded the resignation of the health secretary, director of health education (DHE) and director of health services (DHS). They also insisted on the removal of Kolkata Police commissioner Vineet Goel as part of their five-point charter of demands.
The protesters had also given the state administration a deadline of 5 pm to act on their demands. At the same time, the Supreme Court had given a deadline of 5 pm for the protesting doctors to return to work.
West Bengal’s Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, while addressing the media from ‘Nabanna’ after 7.30 pm, claimed that the Chief Minister has adopted a ‘positive approach’ by taking a peace initiative towards the agitating doctors. Chief Minister Banerjee also holds the charge of the state’s health department.
Bhattacharya said, “The email was sent to the official ID of the Junior Doctors Front at around 6.10 pm. The chief minister was waiting for the doctors’ delegation to come for the meeting. She left her office at 7.30 pm as there was no response from the protesters.” However, the doctors said they found the language of the mail insulting as the government had limited the number of delegates to 10.
“Moreover, this email did not come from the state secretariat. It was sent to us by the health secretary, whose resignation we want. This is insulting,” Halder said. “Our protests and our ‘kaam bandh’ will continue,” he said, hinting at another sit-in in front of the state health headquarters.
Meanwhile, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital has issued notices to 51 doctors for promoting a culture of intimidation and endangering the democratic atmosphere of the institution and asked them to appear before the inquiry committee on September 11.
The notice issued by the hospital authorities states that they will have to prove their innocence before the committee. As per the decision taken by the special council committee of RG Kar Hospital, entry of those 51 doctors into the institute’s premises is prohibited until they are summoned by the inquiry committee.
The notice signed by the hospital principal said that these doctors have also been banned from participating in college activities. The list includes senior residents, house staff, interns and professors. Junior doctors have been protesting since August 9 after the death of a female postgraduate trainee doctor at RG Kar Hospital.
The female doctor was allegedly raped and murdered while on duty. The incident sparked outrage and protests across the country.
The North Bengal Medical College in Siliguri issued a notification expelling five third-year MBBS students for threatening officials and other students. “They have also been asked to vacate the hostel and leave the medical college campus,” it said.
Former principal of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Sandeep Ghosh was sent to judicial custody till September 23 by a special CBI court on Tuesday in a case of financial irregularities. The court also sent his security guard Afsar Ali and two alleged associates (medical equipment seller Biplab Sinha and medicine shop owner Suman Hazra) to judicial custody till September 23.