On Saturday, the group of doctors, whose suspension by an internal committee was stayed by the Calcutta High Court last week, announced the formation of a new association, rivalling the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) which is leading the protests over the rape and murder of a junior doctor at the state-run Kolkata hospital.
In a letter to the chief secretary, the WBJDA wrote, “The alleged financial irregularities of WBJDF, including fundraising in the name of Abhaya which has come into the public domain has to be addressed immediately. We demand a proper audit of that huge collection of funds and a proper investigation of the sources and motive of such alleged financial irregularities by a competent authority of the government.”
On the suspension of medical students and junior doctors, the letter stated, “No one in any medical college should be punished according to baseless perspectives or recommendations of one side, which has been going on in recent days… to fulfill political and personal agendas of some personnel. If such incidents are reported again in the future, then all govt officials including the principal and MSVP of that medical college or institute involved in such biased, vindictive decision-making processes have to undertake investigations accordingly…”
Addressing mediapersons on Monday, Srish Chakraborty, a junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College, claimed that the junior doctors’ protest, aimed at “addressing the systemic failures that led to the crime”, had led to “chaos” in the state’s healthcare system due to their cease work. “We are also protesting against the rape and murder but we were against the cease work. That is why we were alienated and allegations of threat culture were levelled against us. Protesting junior doctors wanted to end our careers and we were illegally suspended,” Chakraborty alleged.
Besides seeking capital punishment for the “culprits” for the rape and murder of the R G Kar victim after “proper investigation”, and security for healthcare professionals, the Association wrote that the “healthcare system should be adequate to give proper facilities to the patients in all domains of the system from medical colleges to primary health centres.”