The ongoing protest started after the semi-naked body of a woman postgraduate trainee (PGT) doctor was discovered inside the seminar hall of the government-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital on Friday. The deceased was on duty the previous night, and her body was found the next day.

The earlier agitation was triggered by an attack on two doctors at Kolkata’s NRS Medical College and Hospital by the neighbours and relatives of a patient who died during treatment on June 10, 2019. The subsequent strike called by doctors affected most health services, including OPDs, in state-run hospitals.

Expressing their inability to contain the crisis, the then-principal of the NRS Medical College and Hospital, Saibal Kumar Mukherjee, and the medical superintendent-cum-vice-principal, Saurabh Chattopadhyay, resigned from their posts.

On June 13, agitating doctors defied Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s ultimatum to join work by 2 pm, and declared that the agitation would continue till their demands related to security matters in government hospitals were met. A team of doctors also met former West Bengal governor Keshari Nath Tripathi in Raj Bhavan and said the chief minister’s reaction to their protest was unexpected.

However, the doctors withdrew their protest after meeting CM Banerjee at Nabanna a couple of days later. Banerjee also announced steps to scale up security in hospitals.

Click here to join The Indian Express on WhatsApp and get latest news and updates