Reconsider decision: Senior Bengal doctors ask junior docs to scale down strike

KOLKATA: Junior doctors in West Bengal’s government hospitals who have been on strike on Thursday held a discussion with senior doctors to decide if they should continue with the complete cease work or scale down the agitation to a partial strike.
A section of senior doctors and professors in medical colleges have urged the junior doctors to reconsider their decision to continue the complete cease work till they see clear action by the government on safety of doctors and patient services.
“Partial cease-work and agitation should continue parallelly. We all want justice for ‘Abhaya’. But we also need to ensure that patients do not suffer,” said Maitrei Bandyopadhyay, head of the microbiology department of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital who attended the meeting on Thursday.
There was no official statement from the doctors on the outcome of the meeting till late evening.
Junior doctors resumed the strike across all medical colleges and hospitals on October 1, arguing that the state government was yet to keep its promise of strengthening security and infrastructure in state-run hospitals.
Subarna Goswami, a senior doctor told reporters: “We have to see how the protests can be intensified without causing any inconvenience to the patients, who come for treatment at government hospitals. The state government will definitely try to alienate the citizens who have been supporting the doctors’ movement so far, if they don’t get proper treatment”.
Junior doctors across the state went on strike on August 9 demanding justice for a junior doctor who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital in Kolkata last month. The incident triggered a nationwide uproar.
Finally, after 41 days, the junior medics partially ended their strike on September 21 and resumed essential services after verbal assurances from the state government and the chief secretary, who issued some directives to ensure safety, security and efficient functioning of the state health system.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which spearheaded the strike, however, went on strike again from October 1 after a mob attacked junior doctors at Sagore Dutta Hospital alleging medical negligence following the death of a patient.
“We are compelled to return to a full cease-work starting from today. Unless we receive clear action from the government on safety, patient services, and the politics of fear, we will have no choice but to continue our full strike,” the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front said in a statement on Monday.
On the same day, the Supreme Court pulled up the state administration over the “tardy progress” in strengthening security and infrastructure at state-run hospitals.
Jawhar Sircar, who recently resigned as the TMC’s Rajya Sabha MP over the RG Kar incident, advised against a complete cease work again. “…the junior doctors should think twice. People will suffer if the doctors again launch a complete cease work. They shouldn’t lose the support of the mass. Protests may continue in many ways,” he told a convention on Wednesday.
“We would hold a meeting with the senior doctors and professors. They have been supporting us from the first day. We would listen to what they have to say,” said
Before heading into Thursday’s meeting, Kinjal Nanda, a protesting junior doctor and a prominent face of the movement, told reporters that they intended to listen to what the senior doctors say. “They have been supporting us from the first day.”
Governor CV Ananda Bose said he expected the government to find a solution and give justice. “That is the government’s duty,” he told reporters.
The BJP which has extended its support to the doctors’ movement said that the government should meet the demands. “It is up to the junior doctors how they want to take their agitation forward. But we believe that the demands of the junior doctors are justified and the state government should fulfil the demands,” Sukanta Majumdar, state BJP president, told media persons.
“On one hand the junior doctors are demanding justice and on the other hand they are denying treatment to poor people. This is injustice. This won’t bring them any success,” Kalyan Banerjee, TMC MP and senior advocate.