A protesting doctor was hospitalised today as the 'fast-unto-death' by junior doctors in West Bengal to press for their demands in the wake of the RG Kar hospital incident entered the 10th day. The medic was admitted to hospital after his health condition deteriorated, officials said.
Pulastha Acharya of the NRS Medical College and Hospital was rushed to hospital on Sunday night after he complained of severe stomach pain, they said. "Pulastha is in the CCU and his parameters have deteriorated," a senior doctor of the NRS Medical College and Hospital told news agency PTI.
Earlier, three junior medics who were on hunger strike in Kolkata and Siliguri city in the northern part of the state were hospitalised in view of their health condition.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant on Sunday wrote a letter to the Joint Platform of Doctors (JPD) urging the body to "advise" the junior doctors to end their hunger strike in the interest of their health and well-being. He also invited them for a meeting at state health department headquarters – Swasthya Bhawan – on Monday to discuss their demands.
The junior doctors have been holding 'fast-unto-death' to demand justice for the RG Kar hospital victim, immediate removal of Health Secretary N S Nigam, workplace security and other measures.
The other demands include the establishment of a centralised referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges in the state, the implementation of a bed vacancy monitoring system, and formation of task forces to ensure essential provisions for CCTV, on-call rooms, and washrooms at their workplaces.
The doctors began hunger strike on October 5. The 'Fast-unto-death' followed nearly 50 days of 'cease work' in two phases. Their agitation began after an on-duty postgraduate trainee was raped and murdered inside state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.