On ninth day of fast by doctors, Bengal government calls meeting

The State government has urged doctors to call off their ‘protest carnival’ coinciding with the immersion carnival. In a jointly signed open letter, prominent citizens asked the junior doctors to end their strike.

With the fast-unto-death of junior doctors entering the ninth day, the support of common people near the protest venue swelled on Sunday (October 13, 2024) as the Durga Puja festivities in West Bengal culminated with the start of immersion of idols.

Three doctors, who had started the strike eight days ago, have been hospitalised, the last being Anustup Mukherjee, a junior doctor of Medical College, Kolkata, who fell ill late on Saturday (October 13, 2024). Aniket Mahato and Alok Verma, two other doctors who were on hunger strike, have been hospitalised after their health deteriorated.

The doctors sat on the fast-unto-death on October 5. Doctors and citizens organised fasts at various places in Kolkata and in the districts in support of the hunger strike. The protesting doctors are demanding safety and security at the workplace among other things.

The Federation of All India Medical Association, a body representing Resident Doctors’ Associations across India, on Sunday (October 13, 2024) called for a nationwide shutdown of elective services at hospitals from Monday (October 14, 2024) in solidarity with the protesting doctors. The strike by the umbrella association is likely to affect the services at private health facilities. 

On Sunday (October 13, 2024), West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant called a meeting of representatives of all doctors’ bodies on Monday (October 14, 2024) to discuss the situation. An email was sent by his office to about 12 associations of doctors urging them to send two representatives for the meeting on Monday (October 14, 2024).

In another email addressed to West Bengal Junior Doctors Front, whose representatives are on a hunger strike at Esplanade, the Chief Secretary urged the doctors’ body to call off the ‘Droher Carnival (Protest Carnival)’ scheduled on October 15. The carnival coincides with the immersion carnival organised by the West Bengal government where several big-ticket Durga Pujas will participate. The venue is not far from where the doctors are protesting.

The Calcutta High Court, in a recent order, had said that there will be no protests at the immersion carnival. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has also called for a boycott of the event. West Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar, in a press statement, expressed support to protesting doctors and urged party workers to join the protests in large numbers.

“The West Bengal BJP extends its full support to the junior doctors’ front in their agitation against the Mamata Banerjee government. The demands by protesting doctors in the aftermath of the gruesome rape and murder of a woman doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital are legitimate and must be fulfilled,” Mr. Majumdar said in the statement.

In another development, several prominent citizens of the State wrote to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to take every possible step to acknowledge the demands of junior doctors to end the impasse.

In an open letter, about 30 signatories, including film-makers Aparna Sen, Srijit Mukherjee and Kamaleswar Mukherjee, theatre personality-actor Kaushik Sen, and social activist Bolan Gangopadhyay, urged the junior doctors to call off their strike. The letter described the demands by doctors as genuine and said that they were willing to facilitate a situation where their concerns will be addressed.

“In the prevailing situation, we promise to be more vigilant to facilitate a situation where your concerns will be addressed and call upon the State government to acknowledge their concern and urge the agitating medics to have faith in civil society initiative to address the situation,” the letter said.

Published - October 13, 2024 10:49 pm IST