KOLKATA: Junior doctors in West Bengal, who have been agitating for the past 41 days, on Thursday agreed to end their sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan tomorrow and resume essential services from Saturday but underlined that the cease work at outpatient departments (OPD) would continue.
The move came hours after the state chief secretary Manoj Pant issued a 10-point directive to ensure safety, security and efficient functioning of the state health system. These were among the five demands for which the junior doctors have been agitating after the rape and murder of the 31-year-old doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.
The doctors have, however, given a seven-day ultimatum to the government to implement the directives. The Supreme Court is likely to hear the matter next on September 27.
“We will resume essential services from Saturday. We will also end the sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan, headquarters of the state health department, on Friday by organising a mega rally from Swasthya Bhavan to CGO Complex, where the CBI’s office in Kolkata is located,” Aniket Mahata, one of the protestors told reporters.
“But we want to tell the state government that the fight will continue in the Supreme Court, which is hearing the RG Kar rape and murder case and also on the streets, so that another RG-Kar-like incident doesn’t happen. We will announce specific programs and a roadmap for this,” he added.
Debasish Halder, another junior doctor, said they would resume the essential services in various departments of state-run medical colleges and hospitals. “After Friday’s rally, we will return toour respective medical colleges and draw standard operating procedures to resume the essential services in the departments. The cease work in OPDs will, however, continue,” Halder said.
“Even though some directives have been issued, no deadline has been set to implement them. We will wait till September 27 when the case comes up for hearing in the Supreme Court again. If by that the state fails to implement the directives, we may again start a full-fledged cease work. That time the movement will be more intense as we will take it to every medical college and hospital,” said Halder.
Doctors across the state have been on strike since then demanding justice for the junior doctor who was raped and murdered in RG Kar Hospital last month. The incident triggered a nationwide uproar. Last week, the Supreme Court asked the doctors to return to work by 5pm on August 10. But the agitators defied the deadline, saying their demands hadn’t been met and started a sit-in outside Swasthya Bhavan with their five demands.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front, which was spearheading the month-long protests, has also decided to open Abhaya Clinics to help the victims in flood-hit areas as a “moral responsibility”. These clinics would start from Friday.
“Sandip Ghosh, ex-principal of the RG Kar and Abhijit Mondal, OC of Tala police station have been arrested and Ghosh’s registration has been cancelled by the state medical council. These are big victories of the protest. The state has issued some specific directives related to safety and security,” said Mahata.
The directives issued by the chief secretary on Thursday evening include adequate on-duty rooms, washrooms, CCTVs in hospitals, security audit in all medical colleges and hospitals by a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, internal complaint committees in hospitals to be made functional, adequate police deployment in health facilities, a centralised helpline for safety and security of health care professionals, a panic button alarm system, a centrally monitored real-time bed availability information system, centralised referral system, filing up of vacancies and a grievance redressal system.
The move came a day after the junior doctors met Pant and other top officials at Nabanna on Wednesday evening. The striking medics had indicated that they would decide on the agitation after the directives were issued.