Kolkata protest: 300 doctors resign in Bengal, strike enters fifth day
Kolkata, June 15 (IBNS): Amid reports that 300 doctors, which include the heads of departments of medical colleges and other hospitals in Kolkata, Burdwan, Darjeeling and North 24 Parganas districts, have resigned from their positions, the ongoing strike of the protesting medical practitioners entered its fifth day on Saturday.
Not budging down, protesting Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) junior doctors refused to meet West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at state headquarters Nabanna on Friday.
Banerjee had called some students to Nabanna through one of her officials. Turning down her request, the protesting students urged the Chief Minister to visit NRSMCH and also apologise for her allegations against the agitators. Banerjee had alleged the protesting students were "outsiders" and were doing "drama".
She also held a late evening meeting with few senior doctors at Nabanna but with no apparent solution. The doctors said they will again meet the Chief Minister at 5 pm on Saturday.
The junior doctors went for an indefinite strike across West Bengal after relatives of Kolkata's Tangra resident 85-year-old Md. Sayeed, whose death at the NRS Hospital prompted cries of medical negligence from them, brought some 200 people to the hospital and beat up junior doctors, seriously wounding one Paribaha Mukhopadhayay on Monday night.
The matter got more complex after Banerjee visited the SSKM Hospital a day ago and lost her cool over the protesters.
Banerjee, amid sloganeering by the agitators, alleged that the protesters are "outsiders". She even sent an ultimatum to the agitators to join work within four hours or else they would face action. However, Banerjee's ultimatum didn't change the situation much.
Doctors from Delhi, Mumbai and other cities have also joined the protest against the assault on Mukhopadhyay.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) also called a strike on Monday to show solidarity with protesting doctors.
Going tough with the Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government, the Calcutta High Court on Friday asked the ruling dispensation to mediate with the junior doctors protesting against the attack on their mate Paribaha Mukhopadhyay.
The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), which was filed by People for Better Treatment (PBT) president Dr. Kunal Saha, against the doctors' indefinite strike. Saha sought the strike should be declared illegal.
I feel very sad that doctors across India had to strike work in protest against atrocities on doctors in W Bengal & consequently patients across India are suffering.I appeal to @Mamtaofficial to withdraw her ultimatum to the medical community & not make this a prestige issue. pic.twitter.com/bSIkVFkrLs
— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) June 14, 2019
But the court asked the state government about the steps taken to provide security to the doctors. It has also sought from the government, the details of the attack on Mukhopadhyay and the doctors' strike by a week.
The High Court also asked the Banerjee government to find a solution to the crisis which has left several patients deprived of treatments from state-run hospitals across the state since Monday.
Saha also sought adequate compensation for all victims and cancellation of license of all protesting doctors.
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