West Bengal's Chief Secretary Manoj Pant and Home Secretary Nandini Chakraborty visited the junior doctors on hunger strike at their protest site in Kolkata today, October 19.
The doctors, who have been on an indefinite hunger strike, are demanding justice for a fellow medic who was brutally raped and murdered at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. Currently, eight doctors are participating in the hunger strike, and six have been hospitalized due to deteriorating health conditions, raising urgent concerns about their well-being.
The junior doctors are calling for immediate action from the state government, explicitly urging Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to engage in discussions to address their grievances. “We want the chief minister to sit for a discussion and implement all our demands,” one of the protesting doctors stated earlier today, highlighting the escalating tensions surrounding the safety issue for healthcare professionals.
In addition to justice for their slain colleague, the junior doctors have outlined several demands aimed at improving working conditions and safety across medical institutions in West Bengal. These demands include the removal of Health Secretary NS Nigam, establishing a centralized referral system for all hospitals and medical colleges, and implementing a bed vacancy monitoring system. They also advocate for forming task forces to ensure essential provisions such as CCTV surveillance, on-call rooms, and adequate washroom facilities in medical establishments.
The junior doctors plan to intensify their protests with a mega rally scheduled for tomorrow, October 20, to raise awareness about their cause and the pressing issues facing healthcare workers in the state. The government’s response to these protests and demands remains to be seen as the situation continues to unfold amidst growing unrest in the healthcare sector.