After over a month-long strike in the wake of the August 9 rape and murder of a junior doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata, the medics had withdrawn their “full cease work” on September 19 and resumed “partial” duty following several rounds of talks with the government on improving security and health infrastructure in the state.
“On September 19, the chief secretary (Manoj Pant) assigned the Health Secretary the responsibility to implement all decisions related to structural changes for our safety and patient services… However, even after 11 days, we have seen no visible changes… We demand that the Health Ministry take responsibility for administrative failure and corruption, and that the Health Secretary be immediately removed from his position,” the West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Front (WBJDF) said after an eight-hour-long marathon meeting of its general body that extended till wee hours of Tuesday.
Calling the state government’s measures to establish a State-Level Redressal Committee and reconstitution of Rogi Kalyan Samitis (patient welfare committees) at hospitals as “insufficient”, Aniket Mahato of the WBJDF said: “We are still being attacked. There is no positive approach from the state government toward fulfilling our demands for safety and security… We are left with no choice other than opting for full cease work, starting today.”
“Until our concerns are addressed, the strike will continue,” he added.
The junior doctors held its general body meeting on Monday night hours after the Supreme Court, which is seized of the RG Kar rape-murder case, in a hearing expressed dissatisfaction over “tardy” progress by the West Bengal government in the installation of CCTV cameras and construction of toilets and separate restrooms in government medical colleges, and directed the state to complete ongoing work by October 15. The Supreme Court also said it would consider widening the ambit of the probe if it comes to light that the irregularities noticed in the context of R G Kar hospital extended to other such institutions.
The meeting was held also in the backdrop of an incident at a state-run hospital in North 24 Parganas where family members of a patient allegedly assaulted and verbally abused the junior doctors alleging medical negligence.
“We want to remind the government that we are not protesting merely for paper promises. We are protesting for a genuine, people-oriented change in the state’s healthcare system, so that patients receive proper services and doctors and healthcare workers are ensured a safe, fear-free workplace,” the WBJDF said.
The doctors also expressed their dissatisfaction over the CBI’s “slow investigation” into the rape-murder case.
“We have seen many times before that the CBI has been unable to reach any conclusions, allowing the real culprits of such incidents to go free due to delays in filing charges,” the WBJDF said.
The protesting doctors’ key demands included immediate justice for the deceased doctor. They are also demanding the state Health Ministry to take responsibility for “administrative incompetence and corruption”, and must immediately remove the Health Secretary.
“A centralised referral system must be implemented immediately in all hospitals and medical colleges in the state,” the WBJDF has demanded besides a “digital bed vacancy monitor” in every hospital in the state.
“Task forces with elected representation of junior doctors must be formed in all medical colleges and hospitals to ensure necessary arrangements for CCTV, on-call rooms, and bathrooms,” it said.
“Police protection in hospitals must be increased with the hiring of permanent men and women police personnel, and not by bringing in civic volunteers. Also, all vacant positions for doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers in hospitals must be filled immediately,” the Front demanded.
Later in the evening, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a veiled appeal to the junior doctors said the people eagerly anticipate the festival all year long. Senior TMC leader Kunal Ghosh too appealed to the junior doctors to lift the cease work, saying: “The state government earlier had accepted nearly all of your demands. Now, this new set of demands and going on a cease work is unnecessary. We would request all of you to return to work,” he said.
The state government last month transferred Kolkata Police Chief Vineet Goyal and appointed Manoj Kumar Verma in his place, while also removing the directors of medical education and health services, giving into the demands of the protesting junior doctors.
— With PTI Inputs
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