Junior doctors, who met West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at her residence on Monday evening, said they would continue their strike and won’t join duty. This comes despite the state government appointing Manoj Kumar Verma as the new Kolkata Police chief, replacing Vineet Goyal, and also removed two senior health department officials, giving in to the earlier demands by the medics.
In an official statement after the conclusion of their general body meeting, the agitating doctors called the state’s administrative measures “only partial victory” of their movement.
WHAT ARE THE DOCTORS DEMANDING NOW
The doctors said they want the removal of the state health secretary NS Nigam, and said Mamata Banerjee assured them that she would take action on it.
The doctors also sought an appointment for another meeting with the Chief Minister and said they would send an email to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant for the same.
They also demanded discussions on the safety and security of doctors on hospital premises and a thorough rundown on how the government wants to spend the Rs 100 crore it has allocated for tightening doctors’ safety in state-run hospitals.
“No effective security measures can be implemented in hospitals without a thorough overhaul of public healthcare delivery mechanism including streamlining of the referral system, the appointment of health workers and professional patient counsellors, plugging of admission corruption and ensuring availability of life-saving drugs,” a statement by the doctors read.
They demanded immediate notification of the chief secretary-headed task force in medical colleges which was promised at the meeting at Banerjee’s residence on Monday.
They also demanded that student body elections be held and adequate representation of junior doctors in the highest policy-making bodies of those institutions be ensured.
ACTIONS TAKEN BY STATE GOVERNMENT
Hours after the doctors met Mamata Banerjee at her Kalighat residence on Monday, the state government on Tuesday evening appointed Manoj Verma as the new city police commissioner, replacing Vineet Goyal.
Director of Health Services (DHS) Debashis Halder, Director of Medical Education (DME) Kaustav Nayak and Deputy Commissioner of Kolkata Police’s North Division Abhishek Gupta were also removed.
Swapan Soren was appointed the interim Directorate of Health Services (DHS), while no appointment was announced for the position of the Durable Medical Equipment (DME).
Banerjee, following a long discussion with the doctors Monday night, had announced the decision to remove Goyal, who had been under fire over handling of the rape and murder of a woman doctor at the RG Kar hospital.
DOCTORS HELD MEETING TO DECIDE IF THEY SHOULD CONTINUE STRIKE
On Tuesday evening, the agitating doctors held a meeting, to decide on their ‘cease work’ and protests demanding justice for the medic trainee who was raped and murdered at RG Kar Hospital on August 9.
The meeting began at nearly 6.30 pm and went on till past midnight.
“We are holding this meeting to decide on whether to continue with our ‘cease work’, as some of our demands have been fulfilled by the state government,” one of the doctors told news agency PTI.
The decision also depends on the advice of their lawyer Indira Jaising, the medic said.
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