Junior docs call off 'total cease work'; threaten hunger strike if demands not met within 24 hrs
Public Lokpal
October 05, 2024
Junior docs call off 'total cease work'; threaten hunger strike if demands not met within 24 hrs
KOLKATA: Agitating junior doctors demanding justice for the RG Kar medic on Friday evening called off their 'total cease work' at state-run medical colleges and hospitals but threatened to launch a hunger strike till death if their demands were not met by the West Bengal government within 24 hours.
Braving the incessant drizzle, junior doctors holding one big clock in their hands reiterated their demands including the directive to form a central inquiry committee for disciplinary proceedings against alleged perpetrators involved in "threat culture" in all medical colleges of West Bengal, among others.
Minutes before making this announcement, the junior doctors on Friday evening began a sit-in at a crucial junction in central Kolkata's Esplanade area alleging police lathi-charged a few of them during a rally to press for justice for the deceased woman doctor of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
Their demonstration disrupted traffic movement in the heart of the city, police said.
The junior medics held a rally from the SSKM Hospital in the city's Bhowanipore area to Esplanade.
The medics said that justice for the deceased woman medic continued to be on top of their demands while among the other nine demands, they called for the immediate removal of state Health Secretary N S Nigam and the health department to take responsibility for administrative incompetence and corruption.
They also demanded the setting up of a centralised referral system at all hospitals and medical colleges in the state besides a digital bed vacancy monitoring system, constituting task forces to ensure necessary arrangments for CCTV, on-call rooms, and washrooms.
They stressed increasing police protection in hospitals, recruiting permanent female police personnel and immediately filling up all vacant positions for doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers in hospitals.
The rampant corruption and lawlessness in West Bengal Medical Council (WBMC) and West Bengal Health Recruitment Board (WBHRB) must be brought under inquiry immediately, the junior doctors demanded.
The junior medics held a governing body meeting of the Junior Doctors' Forum throughout Thursday night following the request from their senior counterparts to call off their 'total cease work' and resume normal duties.
The junior doctors renewed their 'cease work' on October 1 after an attack on medics by a patient's family at the state-run College of Medicine & Sagore Dutta Hospital the previous week.
Previously, junior doctors had gone on a complete 'cease work' for 42 days following the rape and murder of a fellow medic at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
They ended their strike on September 21 after discussions with state officials, resuming essential services.
PTI