On Saturday, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant in an email to the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which is spearheading the agitation, invited a delegation of 10 representatives for “45 minutes” talks with the chief minister on Monday 5 pm at the state secretariat Nabanna, conditional upon the “withdrawal of the hunger strike”.
Before sending the invite for the talks, Pant, accompanied by Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, visited Esplanade in Kolkata on Saturday afternoon and met the junior doctors on hunger strike for over two weeks. The junior doctors also spoke with the CM over the phone.
“We want the talks to be held without any preconditions. Our representatives will attend the meeting at the specified time. We hope there will be a meaningful discussion. But if no solution is found in the meeting, then we will continue with our pre-planned programme on Tuesday,” junior doctor Debashis Halder said after the general body meeting.
On Friday, the junior doctors had announced to go on a statewide strike on Tuesday if the state government failed to meet their demands by Monday.
“After 14 days, the chief secretary and the home secretary visited our hunger strike spot. We spoke to the chief minister over the phone. While speaking with the chief minister about our demands, we felt that even after so long protests, she did not know about the 10-point demand or was not informed about them. We are saddened and hurt. So, we have emailed the chief secretary detailing what we want. If necessary, we will talk about it again tomorrow (Monday),” Halder said.
“The outcome of the meeting will decide in what form the agitation will continue,” he added.
The junior doctors went on ‘cease work’ on August 9 in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the state-run RG Kar hospital in Kolkata. Their hunger strike commenced on October 5 after nearly 50 days of ‘cease-work’ in two phases.
There have been several rounds of talks with the government over a host of issues and demands, ranging from justice for the dead trainee doctor to improved security at hospitals and resignation of Health Secretary N S Nigam. While the government has assured to meet some of their demands, the junior doctors have been asking for their time-bound fulfillment.
On the allegations that junior doctors have been delaying the talks with the government, Halder said, “We are informed about the time and place only one to two hours before the meeting… We should not be blamed for this.”
On Sunday, the junior doctors’ hunger strike entered its 16th day. Halder expressed concern over the health of the hunger strike participants, noting that among the eight of their colleagues currently fasting, three have been on fast since October 5, two since October 11, one since October 14, and two since October 15. Six other junior doctors on hunger strike have fallen seriously ill and required hospitalisation.
Speaking to the doctors over the phone on Saturday afternoon, the CM said, “Everybody has the right to protest, but it shouldn’t affect healthcare services. I would request you all to withdraw your fast.”
Banerjee also rejected the demand for the removal of Nigam, explaining that “it is not possible to remove everyone in a department at once… Please rise above politics and rejoin work.”
In addition to Nigam’s removal, which the chief minister has resisted, the junior doctors are demanding elections in medical colleges.
Banerjee requested more time, citing upcoming Diwali celebrations and bypolls in the state.
Their other demands include establishing a centralised referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges, implementing a bed vacancy monitoring system, and forming task forces to ensure essential provisions such as CCTV, washrooms at their workplaces. They are also calling for increased police protection in hospitals and the swift filling of vacant positions for doctors, nurses.
—with PTI inputs