Kolkata: Agitating junior doctors will attend a meeting called by the West Bengal government on Monday to resolve issues related to their demands stemming from the rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee doctor at state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The doctors, however, said that the decision to call of the ongoing indefinite hunger strike will be taken according to the outcome of the meeting.
Meanwhile, one of the agitating doctors said that junior medics on hunger strike would not be attending the meeting due to health concerns. The meeting is likely to be held at around 5 pm on Monday at state secretariat Nabanna.
"We will attend the meeting but the hunger strike will not be withdrawn before it," Debasish Halder, one of the agitating medics, told reporters after a general body meeting of the West Bengal Junior Doctors' Front. "The outcome of the meeting will decide in what form the agitation will continue," he added.
Halder expressed concern over the health of the hunger strike participants, noting that among the eight medics currently fasting, three have been on strike since October 5, two since October 11, one since October 14, and two since October 15. Six other medics participating in the hunger strike have fallen seriously ill and required hospitalisation. Halder's wife Snigdha Hazra, also a junior doctor, is one of the seven on the hunger strike at Esplanade.
The junior doctors who began fast-unto-death are Aniket Mahato, Snigdha Hazra, Tanaya Panja and Anustup Mukhopadhyay of Kolkata Medical College, Arnab Mukhopadhyay of SSKM Hospital, Pulastha Acharya of NRS Medical College and Hospital, and Sayantani Ghosh Hazra of KPC Medical College. Later, Parichoy Panda from Ramakrishna Mission Seva Pratishthan and Alolika Ghorui from Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital joined the protest last week, taking the total number of medics on indefinite fast across the state to 10, including the two at North Bengal Medical College in Siliguri.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday had urged the agitating junior doctors to withdraw their fast unto death and join their duties. Banerjee on Saturday spoke to the agitating doctors over phone during a visit by Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty to the protest site in Kolkata's Esplanade area and urged them to end the hunger strike, stating that most of their demands have been addressed while rejecting their insistence on removing the state health secretary.
What Are The Doctors Demanding
The junior doctors initiated a 'cease-work' on August 9 following the alleged rape and murder of their colleague at RG Kar Hospital, and the hunger strike began on October 5 after nearly 50 days of 'cease-work' in two phases.
The agitating doctors have been demanding justice for their murdered colleague along with a safer working environment and immediate removal of Health Secretary NS Nigam. So far, six doctors on hunger strike have been hospitalised due to deteriorating health, while eight others remain on an indefinite fast.