Weeklong Junior Doctors’ strike in Bengal called off
Kolkata, 17th June (HS)
After a weeklong tug of war, the strike by the members of the West Bengal Junior Doctor’s Association that paralyzed the health services in the state and rocked the entire nation since 10th June has finally come to an end this evening, after a marathon meeting between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the junior doctor representatives at the State Secretariat Nabanna.
The Chief Minister, while describing the doctors as ‘Gods’ to the suffering masses and agreeing to all their demands for the all round improvement of their security as well as the wholesome development of medical infrastructures in every government medical college and hospital in West Bengal, urged the striking doctors to call off their strike from tomorrow, and if possible from tonight itself, keeping in mind the untold sufferings of hapless masses. Although the 31 representatives of the Junior Doctor’s Association who were present at today’s meeting did not give her any instant assurance of withdrawing their cease-work, they did however promise to formally announce the same after returning to the colleague at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, the epicenter of their movement, with the government’s assurance in writing. At this live telecasted, almost two hour long meeting at the attached conference room of the Chief Minister at Nabanna, which began exactly at 4 pm instead of 3pm as announced earlier, in presence of the Minister of State for Health Chandrima Bhattacharya, State Chief Secretary Malay Dey, Home Secretary Alapan Banerjee, Director General of Police Virendra, City Police Commissioner Anuj Sharma, State Health Secretary Rajive Sinha and Director General of Medical Education Pradip Mitra among others, the Chief Minister ordered the respective officials to take immediate actions to meet each of the grievances of the junior doctors and to look into the condition of every medical college and hospital in the state on the whole. Describing their harrowing experiences one after another, the 31 students representing various medical colleges in the state narrated their woes while working in their respective hospitals under almost inhuman conditions. They also described how they have to face repeated threatening and interventions from various political leaders, as a result of which no actions get taken against the perpetrators of such crimes. Several of them also highlighted the severe inadequacy of medical facilities and equipment in their hospitals and urged the CM to take necessary actions and direct the concerned authorities to implement them within a fixed timeframe. The CM, who gave a patient hearing to each of the students’ demands and promised immediate and strong action, reiterated her request to withdraw the strike at the earliest. In this connection, she also promised to visit the injured junior doctor of NRS Paribaha Mukherjee at the Institute of Neurosciences at Park Circus at the earliest opportunity, before thanking them for calling off their strike at her request.
It may be recalled that the junior doctors across West Bengal went on an indefinite strike following a brutal attack on two of their colleagues at the NRS hospital by some unidentified goons on the night of 10th June, following the death of an 85 year old patient Md. Sadiq. Since then nearly 800 doctors and professors from various government hospitals across the state had tendered their resignations in protest against such insecurity of doctors, the absence of any visible action from the authorities and to urge the government to bring an end to this menace once and for all.
