The junior doctors protesting against the rape and murder of their colleague in Kolkata announced on Thursday that they will resume essential and emergency services from Saturday. Out-patient departments, however, will remain suspended.
The doctors added that they would end their sit-in protest at the Swasthya Bhawan, which is the headquarters of the state health department, after marching to the Central Bureau of Investigation office on Friday. However, the “fight for justice” would continue, the doctors added.
The 31-year-old trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9.
For more than a month, the West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front has been leading protests demanding the resignation of several senior officials and an end to the “threat culture” in West Bengal’s medical centres.
On September 17, the West Bengal government accepted a key demand of the protestors, and announced the removal of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Abhishek Gupta, Director of Medical Education Debashish Halder and Director of Health Services Koustav Nayek from their posts.
However, later that day, the doctors said that certain key aspects from their five-point demands were left unresolved and sought another meeting with the state government.
At a second meeting on Wednesday, the junior doctors demanded the suspension of more officials, the resignation of the state health secretary and steps to improve security at hospitals.
On Thursday, the doctors said that they received a response from Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on their demands about the safety and security of health workers. “The correspondence mentioned the issuance of several guidelines… [which] outline several initiatives for our safety,” the statement said.
It added that the state government had issued directives on “CCTV installation, designated rooms for doctors, water supply arrangements, and the presence of female police officers and special police patrols in colleges, along with panic alarm systems”.
The statement added: “A centralised referral system has been introduced, with proposals for monitoring the number of vacant beds in hospitals. We hope this will alleviate some of the harassment faced by patients due to bed shortages and the influence of middlemen.”
However, the doctors said that they were yet to receive specific guidelines on the “termination of the threat culture in colleges and creating a democratic atmosphere in colleges”. The statement said that only a grievance cell was suggested, adding that this meant that “there has been no action regarding our demand about student elections in medical colleges”.
The doctors said: “Even though we are returning to work, we want to emphasise that the interim responsibility for safety lies with the state administration. If there is any failure in this regard, we will have to take strict measures again.”
The statement noted that while the doctors had achieved an “initial victory” as a “majority” of their demands had been met, their demand for justice had not been fully met yet and their movement would continue.
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