The ongoing standoff between junior doctors and the West Bengal government reached a new level of tension on Tuesday as the medics rejected an invitation for talks from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. The invitation, sent via email from Health Secretary N.S. Nigam, was met with widespread condemnation from the protesting doctors, who criticized its tone and restrictions.
The email, sent late Tuesday afternoon, proposed that a small delegation of up to 10 doctors meet with government representatives at the state secretariat, Nabanna. However, the protesting doctors said that restricting the number of representatives to 10 was 'humiliating'. “The language of the communication is not only disrespectful to us doctors, it’s downright insensitive. We find no reason to reply to this mail,” Dr. Debasish Halder, a leader of the protesting doctors said.
Agitated doctors reject SC directive
The Supreme Court of India, on Monday, issued a directive for the protesting doctors to return to duty by 5 pm Tuesday and no adverse action shall be taken against them on resumption of work. However, the junior doctors, who have been on strike for over a month following the alleged rape and murder of a female colleague at RG Kar Hospital, defied the Supreme Court order and continued their agitation.
"We will continue with the cease work as our demands are not fulfilled. We had asked the state government to remove the Kolkata Police Commissioner, health secretary, director of health services and the director of medical education by 5 PM. We are open to discussion," one of the agitating doctors told news agency PTI.
Swasthya Bhavan Abhijan
Earlier in the day, the protesting medics staged a "clean up Swasthya Bhavan Abhijan", a march with brooms in hand to clean out the ‘dirt’ in the health system. The march to the health department headquarters in Salt Lake demanded the resignations of several top officials, including the Health Secretary, Director of Health Services, and Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal. Their five-point demand charter also includes immediate justice for the victim of the RG Kar incident.
CM's invitation a 'positive approach: State Health Minister
Addressing the media from Nabanna, Bengal's Minister of State for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, described the Chief Minister’s invitation as a “positive approach” to resolving the crisis. Bhattacharya claimed that the Chief Minister had been waiting for the doctors' delegation but had left her office at 7:30 pm due to the lack of response.
The doctors have criticized the limitations placed on their delegation size, viewing it as a humiliation and an insult. They also accused the email of coming from the Health Secretary, whom they have been demanding to resign.
Along with the protest, RG Kar Hospital authorities have issued notices to 51 doctors, including senior residents and professors, for allegedly fostering intimidation and disrupting the institution’s environment. These doctors are summoned for an inquiry on September 11.
Sandip Ghosh, the former principal of RG Kar Medical College, was sent to judicial custody until September 23 by a special CBI court over a financial irregularities case. The CBI has secured substantial digital evidence but does not require further police custody for now. Meanwhile, women lawyers protested against Ghosh and his associates, demanding severe punishment for their alleged involvement in the case.
