Senior doctors in West Bengal have warned the West Bengal government of a breakdown of the State’s health care system should the government take any action against the doctors protesting outside the State Health Department headquarters in Kolkata.
On Thursday (September 12, 2024), a group of senior doctors representing seven organisations, including the West Bengal unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said they supported the junior doctors’ decision to continue their ‘cease work’ protests for the 35th day.
“If any kind of punitive action is taken against them, we, senior doctors will be compelled to take adverse steps like going on strike,” they said.
The doctors added that while the junior doctors are eager to resume duty, their demands are yet to be met. “The culprits behind the rape and murder are yet to be punished. Moreover, the Chief Minister has not adequately addressed the safety issues and threat culture prevailing in hospitals and medical colleges of the State,” they said.
On Friday, Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Bandopadhyay said the protesting doctors who did not resume duty despite the Supreme Court directive are “unfit to be doctors”. “The doctors who did not resume duty after the Supreme Court’s directive have made their true mentality very clear. They are driven by ego, they are not here to serve the people of West Bengal,” he said. “Those who have been on strike for over a month and did not give treatment to people are unfit to be doctors.”
On September 9, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud told protesting doctors in West Bengal to resume duty by 5 p.m. the following day and added that no adverse action would be taken against them if they did so. However, the strike continued and the doctors pressed for talks with the State government on their five demands. Their demands include justice for the doctor who was raped and killed on duty at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9, removal of the Kolkata Police Commissioner and various senior officials of the State Health Department, and a remedy to safety issues and an alleged threat culture in government hospitals.
Subhasis Ganguly, a senior consultant physician, was among the many senior doctors present outside Swastha Bhavan. “I was a student of R.G. Kar college. Our institution has a glorious past and it is extremely disheartening to find out about the corruption and malpractices in the health care system now,” he said.
Dr. Ganguly said the protests by junior doctors are important and necessary for justice. “The truth has to come out — not just about the heinous crime that took place, but also about the decay in our medical system at large,” he said. “I feel the State government and health department should act like parents to these junior doctors and nurture their needs so they can safely practise medicine and help society.”
Sushruta Bandopadhyay, a critical care specialist at a city hospital and a former student of R.G. Kar college, highlighted that the alumni of most medical colleges in the State have come out in support of the junior doctors’ movement. “The R.G. Kar alumni have joined their protests and we have tried to raise funds to help them in their movement,” he said.
Like Dr. Ganguly, Dr. Bandopadhyay expressed his dismay at the culture of threat and bias that has pervaded the State-run medical institutions. “We spoke to the protesting junior doctors about their experiences and what we heard was horrific. They alleged financial irregularities, threats being issued by senior officials, students being failed in their exams because of political biases,” he said.
Subarna Goswami, senior doctor and member of the Joint Forum of Doctors, joined the protests outside the Health Department headquarters on Wednesday night and challenged the State government’s claims that common people are dying because of lack of treatment amidst ongoing protests.
“The junior doctors are mainly trainee doctors and senior doctors are not on strike. They are doing extra duty to compensate,” he said.
Dr. Goswami added that the Supreme Court had directed the State government to ensure the safety of doctors and said the administration has yet to take any steps to accomplish that. “How can the government ask doctors to resume duty before they could ensure their safety and security,” he asked.
Published - September 13, 2024 09:56 pm IST
