The Supreme Court, while hearing the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case on Monday (September 9, 2024) telling protesting resident doctors in West Bengal to resume work by 5 p.m. on Tuesday caused widespread disappointment among doctors on strike across medical colleges in the State demanding safety and justice.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said no adverse action will be taken against the resident doctors if they resume work, following assurances from the West Bengal government.
Monday (September 9, 2024) marked one month of the ‘cease work’ protests by junior doctors in government hospitals and medical colleges across West Bengal. A month ago, a female doctor was found raped and murdered in a seminar hall of the R.G. Kar hospital.
The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front representing protesting resident doctors said after the Monday hearing that their ‘cease work’ protest will continue till 5 p.m. on Tuesday, post which a decision will be made based on the fulfilment of their demands within that time.
Their demands include identification of and appropriate legal action against all possible culprits involved in the rape and murder on August 9 as well as against those who are involved in the alleged tampering of evidence. Disciplinary action against former R.G Kar principal Sandip Kumar Ghosh by the West Bengal Medical Council following his suspension and resignation of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal are also in their list of demands.
The protesting junior doctors have also demanded tightened security for all healthcare workers in hospitals and health centres, and a stop to the alleged ‘threat culture’ in all State-run hospitals and medical colleges across West Bengal.
After the hearing, many junior doctors said verbal assurances do not make them feel safe enough to resume work at government hospitals. “We are very disappointed. We were hoping for some developments in the line of justice, and we did not even get that,” said Hassan Mushtaq, a protesting resident doctor at the hospital.
Gauri Seth, a doctor from the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, said, “We are doctors, we want to work, it is our duty. It is not a happy occasion for us to stay away from our patients who need us.” This has been the sentiment of most protesting doctors across the State who have said that they will get back to work if their demands are met.
The West Bengal unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) expressed disappointment with protesting doctors being asked to resume work. “We are totally disheartened by the proceedings of the Court and the CBI. No step was taken for a speedy trial to deliver justice to our colleague,” they said in a statement on Monday. “We were even more disheartened to learn that the Hon’ble Supreme Court has asked the junior doctors, who are the forerunners of this protest, to return to work by 5pm tomorrow.”
The organisation said it would stand by the protesting doctors “unconditionally in all their future movements”. “It was also very shocking to note the way junior doctors were portrayed as responsible for few deaths in hospitals [which] is completely false, and in no hospital services is completely hampered due to the movement of the junior doctors,” the unit said.
However, Saumitra Kumar, associate professor of ENT at the College of Medicine and Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Hospital in Kalyani, said doctors should resume work after the Supreme Court’s directive. “As senior doctors, we have always supported our juniors. They were already working in emergency wards during the protests, and they can continue their stir on off days even after joining stipulated duties,” Dr. Kumar told The Hindu.
However, he said that despite verbal assurances regarding the allocation of funds towards security, surveys for CCTV, no concrete steps have been taken anywhere except at R.G. Kar.
Violence against doctors continues
A protesting resident doctor at the R.G. Kar hospital said despite claims that all safety measures have been implemented for doctors to resume duty, operational CCTV cameras and safe duty rooms for on-call doctors are still missing in multiple departments.
“How are doctors here and across West Bengal being provided a safe working environment when these measures have still not been taken? While CISF has been deployed at R.G. Kar, instances of vandalism have continued elsewhere,” she said.
On September 5, College of Medicine & Sagore Dutta Hospital in Kamarhati near Kolkata was attacked by a group of undergraduate students during a council meeting between college authorities and protesting resident doctors. In the ruckus, a doctor’s spectacles were broken along with the glass door of the meeting room.
On August 18, a dead patient’s family attacked the trauma care unit at the Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education and Research alleging medical negligence and assaulted on-duty doctors. A junior doctor was injured in the attack and three of the deceased’s family members were later arrested for the vandalism and attack.
Protesting junior and senior doctors in Kolkata-based government hospitals, however, had clarified earlier that amidst the strike, emergency services were fully operational in all State-run hospitals, with OPD services operating in a limited capacity and scheduled surgeries and procedures being deferred.
Protestors reclaim streets
On the eve of the Supreme Court hearing, medical and civil society protesters once again took to the streets of Kolkata to demand justice for the victim. Sit-in demonstrations, candlelight marches and human chains were conducted across the State on Sunday night.
At R.G. Kar, junior doctors stayed awake all night in memory of their colleague. A cultural programme, including musical performances and a documentary screening, was organised at the protest site past midnight hours.
Published - September 09, 2024 10:33 pm IST
