Junior doctors defy SC directive to resume work; reject CM’s call for talks

Kolkata: Junior doctors in Bengal defied a Supreme Court directive that urged them to resume work by 5 pm on Tuesday.

They also refused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s invitation for talks at Nabanna, to resolve the impasse over the RG Kar issue.

Instead, they vowed to continue their protest until their demands — a few of which were added recently — were met, including the removal of the Kolkata Police Commissioner and several top state Health department officials and justice for the rape and murder victim from RG Kar Hospital.

The state government had told the Supreme Court on Monday that at least 23 patients have died in various state-run hospitals due to the junior doctors’ strike. The Chief Secretary had also appealed to the agitating doctors to resume work.

In the “clean up Swasthya Bhavan” march earlier in the day, the stirring doctors demanded the resignations of the Health Secretary, Director of Health Education (DHE), and Director of Health Services (DHS), besides pressing for marching orders of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal as part of their five-point demand charter.

Till the report was filed, they continued their sit-in demonstration.

Earlier in the evening, taking exception to the “language of an e-mail”, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front (WBJDF) which represents the agitating junior doctors, rejected the Chief Minister’s invitation for talks at the state secretariat to resolve the impasse.

The agitating doctors stated they felt insulted by how Health secretary NS Nigam communicated with them via e-mail.

They said they were willing to discuss their demands with the Chief Minister but insisted that the initiative should come from Nabanna.

Chief Minister Banerjee waited for the junior doctors until 7:30 pm on Tuesday at Nabanna, following the Health secretary’s e-mail to the WBJDF on behalf of the state government at around 6:10 pm.

“Health secretary at 6.10 pm sent an e-mail urging the junior doctors to attend a meeting with the Chief Minister who waited for the junior doctors at Nabanna at 7.30 pm and then left. No reply mail arrived. Nobody from the junior doctors said anything. The Chief Minister has taken positive steps and urged the junior doctors to take part in discussions to solve the issue. We still hope that the junior doctors will join the meeting with the CM soon,” said minister-of-state of Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya.

The junior doctors responded by saying: “It was an insult to us as the e-mail came from the Health secretary and not Nabanna. We have been demanding that the state government responds to our 5-point agenda. An e-mail from the Health secretary is not being considered as a satisfactory move by the state government. There was nothing to respond to after the manner we received the e-mail.”

They further stated: “If the government communicates its intent to meet our five-point demands, we will consider arranging a meeting with all our representatives. We were informed in Tuesday’s e-mail that only a 10-member delegation would be allowed at Nabanna, which we found insulting since our delegation needs to represent multiple institutions. Additionally, we were addressed as ‘sirs,’ despite having many female members among us. In the future, they must address everyone appropriately. We will respond once we receive a proper e-mail. Until then, our sit-in protest will continue.”

On Tuesday afternoon, a few hundred junior doctors — carrying brooms, replicas of a human brain and eye — marched from Karunamoyee to Swasthya Bhavan, covering a distance of around 2 km to place their demands.

The protestors sat on the road, shouting slogans, without breaking the barricades.

“We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s order. We have given a deadline to the state government till 5 pm on Tuesday to meet our demands. The cease work will continue till the government meets our demands. So, whether the cease work will continue or not depends on the government,” said a protesting doctor.

“The corruption which has crept into our health system needs to be cleaned,” a junior doctor representing WBJDF said.

State Health secretary, NS Nigam on Monday said that around 7 lakh outdoor patients and 70,000 indoor patients have been denied treatment. Over 7,000 planned surgeries were deferred while 1,500 patients in cath labs were left untreated. As many as 23 lives were lost due to lack of treatment.

The Chief Minister, on Monday, pointed out that the state government had fulfilled all the demands submitted to Swasthya Bhawan by the junior doctors.

Chief Secretary Manoj Pant said that Rs 100 crore was allocated to strengthen security in the hospitals, including the installation of CCTVs, washrooms, toilets and restrooms.

The junior doctors began their strike on August 9, hours after the body of the female trainee was found in the seminar room of RG Kar.

Since then, the protest has escalated, leading to disruptions in healthcare services at state-run hospitals across Bengal.