The junior doctors of Bengal refused to end their cease work even two days after their talks with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee bringing “fruitful results” that included among other things removal of two senior IPS officers and health department directors who allegedly misled the investigation in RG Kar Medical College rape and murder case.
The doctors’s Wednesday morning demand of meeting with the State Government -- was readily granted by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant. Doctors said that the administration had not fulfilled all their demands including the removal of State Health Secretary NS Nigam and ensuring an atmosphere free of fear inside the Government hospitals and medical colleges.
A letter written to the Chief Secretary read, “We were assured in the meeting (held on Monday), that a special task force presided by you will be formed to address these issues and further discussions with us would take place regarding its formulation and function. We would like to sit in a meeting with you and other members of the task force today regarding the same.”
The doctors wee on way to the State secretariat Nabanna when reports last came in. “We had a meeting with the Government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her residence in Kalighat where we place some specific demands … while some of these have been fulfilled, some others are yet to be granted,” Dr Debashis Haldar one of the leaders of the Junior Doctors’ Forum said.
Doctors’ cease work entered its 40 days on Wednesday. “Besides the removal of the Health Secretary we had also demanded an atmosphere free of fear and an improved infrastructure including a central referral system, adequacy of beds, installation of CCTV cameras, well-guarded rest rooms for doctors and panic buttons so that the system is made nearly foolproof,” the doctor said.”
“We are not in the movement only for the doctors’ interests but for the people’s interest also as the inadequate infrastructure like lack of X-Ray and CT Scan machines, MRI, inadequate beds and lack of other infrastructural facilities often leads to misunderstanding between the doctors and the patients … lack of centralised referral system only gives impetus to a dalal (broker) raj which involves selling hospital beds to patients … the patients have to run from hospital to hospital for bed and lose vital time in treatment … this often creates a misunderstanding between the public and the doctors … besides most hospital and medical college premises are controlled by (politicians) musclemen who with their contacts, exploit, extort and threaten the juniors and other doctors … this system must end and we had raised all these issues in the Monday’s meeting … till these issues are solved we don’t see the cease work ending,” the doctor said.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday appealed to the doctors to return to their work saying he too supported their demands. “Since day one, I have supported the doctors in their concerns regarding safety and security, and I have always maintained that most of their concerns, barring a few, are valid, sensible and justified,” he said.
